BEFORE: "It's not over 'til it's over!", Rebecca Romijn is another woman who dismisses retirement talk here in the Madison Square Garden tonight even though her last victory dates back to the infamous Charlize Theron 'Crusade' relay that quite frankly didn't result in FCBA's living legend hanging up her gloves. Some pundits indicate that as long as Theron stays active, women like Romijn or Ali Landry will indeed continue to put their body at risk but setting up a clash against one of the more recent welterweight powerhouses like Cassidy Freeman seems ill-advised at best.

However Romijn is no stranger to fighting an elite schedule and as long as she's not affected mentally by the string of losses, she should provide a strong gatekeeper test to whoever feels ready for a 40+ year old blonde California stunner. Rebecca turns 44 tomorrow and there's no prize for guessing what birthday present she aims for tonight!

Rebecca Romijn wears a navy blue one-piece Speedo swimsuit with white trim and yellow gloves. Long blonde hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Cassidy Freeman wears a light green one-piece swimsuit with black trim and brown gloves. Long red hair tied in a braid wrapped around the back of her head. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the welterweight division.

Round 1:
The Knicks smacked the Bulls away from home the other night and it's clear an Illinois native like Freeman is no fan favorite in the Garden whatsoever however Romijn's a California blonde and only the desire for a neutral setting of this Main Event pins both these women in the Big A landscape. Rebecca's height & reach advantage plays a big part in the redhead's slow start but the older woman doesn't make the most of that opportunity and settles into a single hand assault that puts no pressure on the Lioness faithful. Plenty of duck & weave from Freeman who rides out the slow pace of the opener until the end and Romijn might well regret not going after her even though Cassidy's well known for her one-punch destruction highlight reel.

Round 2:
Rebecca's a former multiple champion in her own right and finally shows some muscle as she tackles the redhead with an aerial drill but spiking Freeman's temples a couple of times ain't gonna do the trick and the Illinois girl squares right up to the blonde to stiff her in the center of the ring through a heavy jug sluggin' from the inside. Cassidy doesn't channel her slow burner attitude any longer as rumours mount around her upcoming plans ever since LCA announced she was pulled from the November PPV line-up. She outworks Romijn in close range for the time being and shuts the lanky blonde on offense wholesale before driving her down to the ropes where she harpoons the midsection and slumps Rebecca into a clinching survival come the dying seconds of the round. Romijn has all the tools to cause a smaller girl like Freeman trouble but she's not fast enough even by otherwise pedestrian welterweight standards.

Round 3:
Romijn finally takes full advantage of her superior reach and bombs away at the redhead in fury, she catches her with a couple of solid hooks and visibly reels Cassidy backwards however the lack of a proper follow up enables the younger woman to escape to safety. Rebecca's not a speed demon across the canvas so she can't wrap her foe up in a leather dash but keeps plugging forward and has Freeman wary of that one-punch threat. Thankfully for the LCA supporters, their favorite is a wiley veteran who knows a thing or two about surviving a dry spell even if it comes at a cost of a forfeited round on the cards. Romijn hassles her along the ring and scores few one-off strikes to boost her confidence even further but Cassidy looks as calm as ever at the bell and the LCA coach Claudia Schiffer likewise keeps it strictly business during the break. No need to hit the panic button just because a former champion landed a clean punch or two!

Round 4:
Rebecca believes she can really upset the pecking order tonight and swings another big cross over the top but Cassidy ducks underneath and piles a flurry of jabbing menace on the rack to stack the blonde up on her heels. Romijn struggles to stretch her elbows properly and needs space to work with at first but a series of uppercuts cleans out her Speedo cleavage and wobble back as Freeman bursts her jaw with a left hook followed by a ripping right on the eye! Ugh! Romijn loses her footing AND GOES DOWN ON HER BACKSIDE! This literally came out of nowhere! The Illinois redhead channels some raw power at a proud Californian's expense but Rebecca gets up quickly and indicates she slipped rather than fell under the Freeman's punches. Well, nobody buys into that story east of Mississippi River and Romijn's pounded back to the ropes thereafter as the actress picks up the pace and buries the lanky blonde under a repeated jabbing drive that shatters the high guard near the end and snaps Rebecca's head back & forth with the crowd dwelling on the sudden injection of pure boxing wrath. Romijn slumps at the ropes at the bell and sports a couple of cuts under the left eye; that was extremely difficult round for her and the look that Cass gives her before turning back to LCA corner is as lethal as they come!

Round 5:
Romijn wants to bide some time here but she fails to match the redhead's footwork and gets wrapped into a vicious jabbing tangle in the middle of the ring that has Freeman BLASTING one cross after another... the number of cuts on the blonde's pretty face increases with every second but it only takes a belting hook on the navel to wobble the towering ex-model into a jaw crushing half-uppercut! The bigger they are, the harder they fall! Rebecca goes all TIIIIIIMBEEEEERRRRR and remains motionless on her left side as the count slowly passes her by! Ugh! We've seen this kind of shot from the redhead before, haven't we? Vintage KO5 Cassidy Freeman!!!

AFTER: Cass keeps it strictly business and even checks up whether everything's OK with the fallen blonde. She high-fives her coach Schiffer but the laid back atmosphere in the LCA corner indicates they were never concerned with the possibility of an upset California victory tonight. One might say Freeman's never concerned with anyone not named Righetti but some pundits would really love to see her take a shot at some of the youngsters making noise in the division lately. However the message from coach Schiffer is clear: "We don't shoot at those kids. They have to come to us first. We've earned ourselves this much respect!"

Final result: Cassidy Freeman def. Rebecca Romijn KO5.