BEFORE:



"I'm not surprised by Leven turning things around this year," says Tracy with a smile. "She's a talented fighter and a good friend. But, she's not as talented as I am. I proved that once. And I'll prove it again."



"Tracy is a measuring stick, no question," says Leven with a nod. "She's one of the top young bantams in the FCBA. But. So am I. And, I'm ready for the challenge."



ROUND ONE:



O'Dell: "Back at ringside and that's 'Stray Heart' by Green Day, and that means that 'The Houston Solution', Leven Rambin, is on her way to ringside."



Cassie: "As always, Uncle Wiz following proper fight etiquette. Tracy and Leven have fought. Tracy won. So, she gets the honors."



McCarthy: "What Weirdo knows about etiquette would fit on the back of those cheap, paper napkins he uses to wipe the beer off his face..."



O'Dell: "Rambin into the ring and helped off with the robe by Jewel and Neve to reveal that bubblegum pink bikini the she likes..."



Cassie: "And Tess loathes with the white hot heat of a thousand suns..."



Tess: "That color is just AWFUL. I have NO IDEA why a woman would want to wear that..."



O'Dell: "And, that's 'Blitzkrieg Bop' by the Ramones you hear pounding through the arena, and here comes Bazz's own Tracy Spiridakos!"



Tess: "Tracy the only Bazz fighter who does not come to the ring to classical music..."



McCarthy: "Yeah, we've all heard the story. That giant goof in a skirt heard this song and got it stuck in his head like some kind of brain worm..."



Cassie: "YOU'RE the one who has brain worms..."



McCarthy: "LISTEN, you little..."



O'Dell: "Now, calm down, Mac, and let's keep our attention on the ring, where Tracy is helped off with the robe by the Bazz corner crew. She's wearing that white number we've seen here before. And, with the ladies about ready, it's time for some picks. Tess favors Tracy. Mac?"



McCarthy: "Spiradakos isn't great, but even SHE is better than Rambin. Spiridakos."



O'Dell: "Cassie?"



Cassie: "I agree with Tess!"



O'Dell: "And, here we go. Early on seeing terms just like the last fight. Leven likes to box at range, Tracy weaving in, wants to close and bang, Spiridakos has lots of power for a bantam, as we've seen many times, and she wants to bring it to bear on Leven early in this one. Rambin doing a good job with the jab, though, maintaining range..."



Cassie: "The thing with Tracy is, she's not just a slugger. She can box. She's good defensively. But, that power she has can finish you in a hurry."



O'Dell: "Rambin's felt that in the past, and she's certainly going to be wary of it this evening. Spiridakos hooking some body here. Rambin ties her up, slips back and away, makes with the left again. Tracy very smooth. Moving very well. Bobbing and weaving forward, right back to the body when she gets in close."



Tess: "Just to point out for the fans who might not have seen the graphic, Tracy not giving up much range here. She's an inch shorter than Leven, so, she can fight her outside if she wants to. She just doesn't want to."



O'Dell: "Twenty-five seconds to go in the first. Tracy slips forward, hooks some ribs. Rambin firing back to the body and a SOLID exchange to the head with both fighters landing good punches. Five seconds left. Leven circles away and there's the bell. Close first round goes to Tracy Spiridakos."



McCarthy: "And, she has the 10-9 lead, but, if this fight is anything like the last time they fought, the cards won't matter."



ROUND TWO:



O'Dell:"Tracy again making with the pressure as we start the second round. Rambin wants some breathing room, but, as she well knows from their first fight, that's not easy to get against Tracy, unless Spiridakos wants to let you have some. And, at the moment, she most certainly does not..."



Cassie: "Tracy is very athletic and, like all Bazz fighters, she's in great shape, so she can swarm you all night, and, if she doesn't finish you with a big one, she'll wear you down."



O'Dell: "And, with the kind of pressure she's putting on right now, she could wear down just about anyone...but she may not have to! Right hand Tracy and Leven is ROCKED! Spiridakos with a short right hook and Rambin's knees gave a shimmy. And now Tracy all over the Front Streeter, firing away with both hands..."



McCarthy: "Not only is Rambin not going to reverse the last result, she's not even going to LAST as long!"



O'Dell: "You may be right, Mac, because Leven's backed against the ropes and taking a serious beating. Spiridakos a HARD right hand that wobbled Leven again. Referee ready to leap in there if this gets any worse. He's not going to watch much more of it. Rambin clinching, Tracy shoving off. Right hook to the head, but there's the bell. Tracy wide in the second."



Tess: "This was a close fight for the first half the first time they met. But, Tracy building an early lead this time, 20-18."



ROUND THREE:



O'Dell: "Spiridakos right to the offensive to start the third, but Rambin tying her up immediately. Leven wrestling around with the brunette. Tracy shoving free, but Rambin tying her up again. No question the blonde's playing for time at the moment. Referee breaking the fighters, but, as soon as Tracy comes forward, Leven ties her up again..."



McCarthy: "Referee should warn her about all this holding, then take a point if she keeps it up!"



O'Dell: "Referee breaks the fighters. Tracy staying at range now. Going to box a little to avoid the ties. Step to middle distances, get off there, then back to range. Leven to the left hand, working the jab. Rambin doing a good job of getting the left home, setting Tracy up for hard right hands. Blonde's legs coming around, ladies..."



Cassie: "They are, and she's getting back into the round after the slow start. Tracy not having as much success on the outside."



O'Dell: "Which is no surprise, because that's Leven's game. Rambin working everything off that long left. When she lands, rights and combinations follow. When Tracy can slip it, she can get to her spots and get off in combination herself. Good, two-way round has developed here, and, at the bell, Rambin's come back to narrowly grab it."



Tess: "And cut Spiridakos' lead to 29-28."



ROUND FOUR:



O'Dell: "Back to the same terms we saw last round. Fighters starting at range. Tracy working to slip the left, get to middle distances and get off. Leven, meanwhile, all about stopping Tracy with the left and holding her for follow on combinations. And, just like the last round, both women having some success..."



McCarthy: "And Tracy showing how effective she can be even when she's not going the pressure route."



O'Dell: "Tracy slipping past the left, landing a good one-two and Rambin CATCHES HER WITH A RIGHT HAND! The blonde staggers Spiridakos with a hard right. And Leven immediately all in! She's going to try to finish this thing while the finishing is good! Tracy very wobbly right now as the blonde backs her up with hard flurries..."



Cassie: "Notice how Tracy's countering, though. Not going to let Leven have a complete clean up here..."



O'Dell: "She is not, but Rambin having much the better of things, continuing to drive the brunette backward, pinning her to the ropes in the final twenty seconds. Leven trying hard to get the stoppage, but the Bazz beauty hanging on, keeping the guard up, countering in spots. Five seconds left. Good right from Leven at the bell! Rambin wide in the fourth."



Tess: "We got here a different way, but we're exactly where we were after four the first time. Even at 38."



ROUND FIVE:



O'Dell: "Rambin on the attack to start the fifth. She's coming forward now, backing Tracy up. Spiridakos still looking a bit shaky early on here and the blonde taking full advantage. Leven setting up the right hand with good, accurate jabs, stepping in behind, sitting down on punches. Tracy countering, but on the defensive..."



Cassie: "NOT ANYMORE! BIG right hand from Tracy!"



O'Dell: "And Rambin's wobbled. Spiridakos a HUGE flurry and DOWN GOES RAMBIN! Leven dropped to her back by a five-punch flurry from the brunette! Tracy to a neutral corner. Count at three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Rambin rolls to her belly, gets to hands and knees at eight, and she's up at nine to beat the count..."



Tess: "Got to admit, I'm surprised. I did not expect her to get up from that..."



O'Dell: "Referee gives her the mandatory and on comes Spiridakos! Tracy now all in just as Leven was last round. The brunette banging away at the blonde, who's keeping the guard high, giving ground, countering only on occasion. Tracy teeing off, forcing Leven back to the ropes and giving her a thorough thrashing. Not sure how much more of this the referee is going to look at. Twenty seconds left. Tracy ANOTHER big flurry. Ten seconds left. Rambin just hanging on now and she's going to hang on. There's the bell. Big round for Tracy."



McCarthy: "Same as last time, just a round earlier. Spiridakos using the power to pull away. 48-46."



ROUND SIX:



O'Dell: "Sixth begins right where the fifth left off. Tracy on the offensive, Leven being backed up. Rambin clearly still trying to shake off the worst of the damage from the fifth and Spiridakos determined to pile some more on as we begin the second half of the fight. Tracy clinical right now, ladies..."



Cassie: "No surprise. She knows how to finish. She knows she's got Leven in trouble and that she has time to set up her punches and look for the one that will end it."



O'Dell: "And, in the mean time, she's landing plenty of shots that, while they aren't ending things, are doing damage. Rambin taking an awful lot of fire this round. She's stayed off the ropes so far, but it's only a matter of time. Tracy in total control in there, doing what she wants when she wants to do it."



McCarthy: "Just a matter of time unless something changes in a big way. This Spiridakos kid can hit. You can't keep taking these kinds of punches from her forever."



O'Dell: "Thirty seconds left and now Tracy has Leven in a corner. Rambin ties up, Tracy shoves off, stacks her up, works some body, then goes back to the head. Twenty seconds left. Solid left hook by Spiridakos in that exchange. Leven fighting back off the ropes here late, but it's the Bazz beauty who's having the better of it. Five seconds left. There's the bell. Spiridakos wide."



Tess: "Amazingly, the cards right now are exactly the same as they were the first time. 58-55 in Tracy's favor after six."



ROUND SEVEN:



O'Dell: "We begin the seventh, which, since we've spent so much time talking about the first fight, was the round in which Spiridakos ended things nearly two years ago. And, she's definitely planning to make that happen again tonight, forward aggressively, only to be tied up by Rambin..."



McCarthy: "This blonde bimbo is playing for time again! The referee needs to take a point for all this holding! This isn't football!"



Tess: "Um. Mac. Holding is illegal in football, too..."



McCarthy: "You know what I mean Walmart and SHUT UP, WALMART!"



O'Dell: "Drink up yet again boys, as Rambin and Spiridakos wrestle in another clinch. Leven again successfully slowing down Tracy's offense. Spiridakos a little frustrated, shoving off and taking a good combination from Rambin when she does so. Tracy goes body and Leven ties her up around the head again..."



Cassie: "Tracy needs to get back to middle distances where she can get off. Leven's not going to let her bang in close."



O'Dell: "She is not. In fact, Rambin's managing this very well. She's seemingly gotten her legs back under her, and she's holding her own and more inside, tying up, working some body, not allowing Tracy to get into any kind of offensive rhythm. We're down under 15 seconds in the seventh, and, while it wasn't pretty for Leven, it was effective. There's the bell, and she's actually grabbed this round close."



Tess: "67-65, though. Spiridakos still up a pair with three to go."



ROUND EIGHT:



O'Dell: "And, Spiridakos back to range to start the eighth. She's not going to try to close and fight through the ties. Instead, she's again looking to box with, work past the gloves, get to middle distances, and get off in combination there, and, as it did earlier in the fight, it's working fairly well for her..."



Cassie: "And, that's because Tracy's an excellent athlete. She's got the quickness and agility to find small holes in defenses and sneak through them."



O'Dell: "Just like she did here. A quick pop forward and a nice three-punch flurry. Rambin lands a solid counter and Tracy slips back to range. We're seeing an added dimension from the Bazz fighter tonight, as if a girl who's had the kind of success she's had needs any other weapons at her disposal..."



McCarthy: "She's got quite the arsenal, doesn't she?"



O'Dell: "Rambin working the left hand. Spiridakos popping forward, landing a good flurry and RAMBIN NAILS HER WITH A RIGHT HAND! Tracy staggered! Leven a BIG flurry and DOWN GOES SPIRIDAKOS! Tracy dropped at Leven's feet..."



Tess: "Right hook in there did the damage. I'm not sure she's getting up from this one..."



O'Dell: "Count at three. Four. Five. Six. Tracy rolls to her back. Seven. Eight. Sits up. Nine. TEN! Spiridakos can't get off the canvas! And your winner by KO8 in comeback fashion is 'The Houston Solution', Leven Rambin!"



AFTER:



O'Dell: "Let's go up to the ring and Tess Valmore!"



Tess: "I have our winner, Leven Rambin, and, Leven, this was looking eerily like your first fight with Tracy...but you flipped the script."



Leven (nodding): "She's not easy, Tess. She can get physical with any bantam on the planet and hold her own. I remembered that from the last time, and I knew I'd have to get physical with HER at times to have a chance to win. I couldn't let her bully me around like she did at times in the first fight. You can't beat her that way."



Tess (smiling): "There was a lot of talk last year that you might have been on thin ice at Front Street. I think the ice is a lot thicker now..."



Leven: "I don't worry about stuff like that, Tess. I just go to the gym, train hard every day and work as hard as I can to get better. And, I've done that, I think. And, well. Management around here doesn't miss much. I'm sure they've noticed."