Post by Lookout! Boxing on Nov 25, 2016 at 4:42pm

Daisy Ridley versus Eliza Dushku

(Words: ABC / Results: Lookout!)

Pre-fight:
Daisy Ridley has had a dream start to her FCBA career with Alpha Boxing Club, going 6-0 to this point. Stepping up to Laura Vandervoort in the July PPV was a challenge she met head on, and surprised more than a few pundits when she knocked out the blonde superstar in the eighth round. But her new challenge makes even that ambitious task look like child’s play, as she faces FCBA legend, Eliza Dushku.

Dushku has been a powerhouse in the league for some time. An inductee in the hall of fame, her bout against the up-and-coming Ridley marks her 150th of her career. Her last fight was a loss to young Nina Dobrev, but Dushku is confident she can prove that isn’t going to be a trend, keen to add another positive notch to her incredible 96-47-6 record.

“Daisy seems to have a lot of talent,” Eliza admitted, “and she’s fit, and she’s smart, and she’s surrounded by good FCBA people. But, what she isn’t, is ME. And that’s all there is to it. It’ll be an honor to hand her loss number one.”

Daisy’s response wasn’t filled with confidence, but it sure was grounded. “Well, there can only be one Eliza Dushku, can’t there? She’s right, I’m not her. I never will be. I can never be. But, I am ME, so I’m just going to go out there and be the best me that I can. Sure, Eliza is scary with her seven billion title victories and hall of fame status, and 150th milestone incentive, and  just plain old being HER, but, I can’t and won’t, let anything scare me in that ring. Not even the Sheriff.”

Will veteran Eliza Dushku be the one to finally hand Daisy Ridley a loss? Or, will the rookie continue her undefeated party with a victory over the older hall-of-famer? Let’s get to the action and find out!

Round 1:
Daisy off to a good start as she moves quickly around Eliza, showing swift footwork and clever patience, evading a lot of Dushku’s early testing shots and even connecting with the jab a few times to give her experienced opponent something to think about. Dushku by no means backing down, but quite quickly aware of the agility of her opponent and certainly not willing to wear herself out in the first round by chasing her young counterpart. Dushku willing to absorb a little and try to jab back when the opportunity is there, but Ridley offering up very little chances for that as she bounds about the ring as though she has unlimited energy reserves. She’ll hope she does if she expects to keep this up for more than a few rounds. Still, she looks the sharper of the two coming out of the first round, even if she hasn’t landed anything particularly damaging. Mostly just crisp jabs whenever Dushku looks likely to attack, stinging the cheeks a little.

Round 2:
Eliza quick to stifle the rookie’s promising start, those experienced fists moving around young, firm body, working Daisy over from ribs to abs to chest, and a few smarting jabs to face also keep the youngster guessing. Daisy getting frustrated, electing to evade with those fast feet rather than block as Dushku finds all the gaps now, getting a little more of a read on the promising youngster. Daisy not having to absorb too much once she gets those feet moving again, but she is still using a bit of energy, certainly more than Dushku. Eliza not having to take too much to the face this round, only a few quick body hooks, but she has dished out a little more, even if nothing too stressful for Ridley to deal with.

Round 3:
It has been close thus far, but Eliza has 143 fights experience over young Daisy, and she starts to look it as we settle into the third round. Eliza seems to have found her groove and sussed out her opponent, getting involved with much more aggression now. Daisy is still trying to jab and move, but Dushku has all the answers come the third round. Daisy really looking like a student attempting to explain the text book to one of the original authors. Eliza wants none of it and she hooks ribs, right, left, right, left, bullying Daisy into the ropes. Ridley trying to turtle with nowhere to run, and Dushku is happy to pepper ribs and sides, getting some almighty groans and grunts from her slightly taller opponent.

Eliza has Daisy stuck on the ropes, battering her ribs at will, and the very moment those protective gloves slip wide from constant jolting pain, Dushku UNLOADS a killer uppercut that shocks Ridley and every single audience member in the stands.

Dushku’s right glove CRACKS under Ridley’s chin and the undefeated youngster bounces against the ropes and flops forward right onto her face!

Eliza moving back quickly, grinning like the Cheshire cat, allowing the official to make the count. She looks confident, knowing she landed that shot with precision. Daisy is groaning, hands slowly coming underneath her to push that fit frame off of the canvas.

The count gets to 8, but Daisy is up on her feet and shaking off the cobwebs JUST in time. Eliza looking a little disappointed, but there’s a smirk there as she watches her highly touted opponent stagger to her corner, holding her jaw after the bell to end the all-eventful third round.

Round 4:
Daisy is back, but she’s certainly a little shaken, and Eliza knows full well, now trying to take advantage. Ridley cautious, guard working overtime and those feet trying to help, but Dushku keeping up now, sensing blood in the water, willing to expend the energy to chase, and finding gaps when she closes. Daisy’s sides and abs are reddening, even bruising on her left side, and she winces with each hook to sore ribs now.

Daisy in survival mode and that isn’t where you want to be by only round four. Dushku knows full well how to take advantage of that and when. Right away! She is working poor Ridley’s young body over something chronic. Her midsection simply hammered by those experienced fists. They have broken some of the greats over the years, and now they set their sights on the fit rig of young Daisy, and we hate to think how sore she is going to be in the morning. Ridley may be fit, but there are buildings that would cave in under the pressure Dushku is applying right now with those killer hooks!

Round four ends with Ridley in the corner, hugging her ribs, and Dushku grinning, seemingly in complete control, and believing it herself.

Round 5:
Daisy doesn’t seem to be moving so well, labouring and certainly aching. Dushku looks confident, but cool, and seems to have the young upstart right where she wants her. Eliza presses early, going right after those ribs, popping some shots at bruised flesh, but mostly only getting leather as Daisy protects deftly. The jabs pop higher and Ridley tries to shuffle away with those swift feet, but the body is a little stiff right now and she doesn’t quite escape the air space of Dushku’s right glove, taking stinging leather to her left eye and cheek a couple of times.

Only this time, Daisy refuses to turtle, probably unwilling to move the guard completely away from her ribs. She instead replies with a left shovel hook into Eliza’s ribs, getting a surprised grunt from the veteran. Eliza moves to whack a left up high, but Daisy jabs a quick right hook into Eliza’s abs, and suddenly the onslaught is halted.

The exchange goes similarly throughout the round, with Eliza achieving very little to damage Daisy’s confidence any further, and Daisy managing to hang in there and get a few cheeky shots to Dushku’s body, slowing her roll, and giving herself half a chance to find her bearings again. An important round for Ridley, who may not have completely shifted the momentum, but has surely slowed Eliza’s a little. Still, Dushku looks poised for the kill, and she’ll be seeking to destroy her prey in the sixth.

Round 6:
Eliza jumps in, hunting torso, but Daisy has worked out the guard a little, and she certainly has it stronger than earlier, perhaps out of necessity now that the legs are tiring and bruised ribs won’t allow for the agilest of movements. Dushku finds leather but little else and Ridley is quick to counter, banging harder shots into face now, stunning Eliza a bit and taking some of the control in this bout.

Dushku is bullied via counters, sharp shots smacking into the centre of her face, and Eliza is visibly starting to doubt the gameplan. Eliza trying to whack leather higher, the first couple of shots contacting pretty Ridley cheek, but that is until Daisy works out how to counter those as well, swaying with some sharp hooks to ribs, giving Eliza a lot to think about.

After the sixth, Dushku looks a little frustrated, and a little worn for wear now. Of course, not as much as Ridley, but the young hopeful sure hasn’t given in, and that’s something.

Round 7:
Eliza is a little more cautious to begin the seventh, weary of those counters now, and tries something different, faking the hook to fire an uppercut at chin. Then the remarkable occurs. Showing the reflexes of a large cat, Ridley leans millimetres out of the uppercut, bends left, and winds a WILD left cross, putting so much body and momentum into it that she leaves her feet and twists to the mat, right at the same time that the cross connects FLUSH with Dushku’s right temple, also sending her sprawling straight off of her feet and onto the mat!

The two fighters collapse in a heap and it’s almost hard to tell who hit who at first as Dushku clearly wound up the initial uppercut. But as Daisy bounces straight back up to her feet, eyes wide in shock at what she just did, and the Sheriff remains groaning on the canvas, limbs shaking as she tries to get them under herself, it becomes obvious to all present that Daisy just hit a walloping hail-mary amidst a deft evasion.

The referee is counting as Daisy leans against the corner turnbuckle, huffing, trying to work what on earth to do if Eliza stands up and comes for her. The count gets to 8 but Dushku just gets up and gets the okay to continue. It may not have won Daisy the match, but it has put her right back in it, and the crowd are all on their feet, screaming for their favored fighter with the utmost desperation, regardless of which it is.

Eliza looks a little dizzy through a lot of the remainder of the round and largely just turtles and goes into protection mode, needing that rest and chat from her corner to really give her some idea of how to forget about what her opponent just did. Daisy keeps peppering her opponent, but doesn’t seem to quite have the killer instinct to finish off the woozy veteran. Then again, it is Dushku, and perhaps her turtling abilities are just that good. She has had to do it once or twice before.

Round 8:
Perhaps Daisy has been cautioned against going in too hard to finish Eliza at the danger of leaving herself open, or perhaps those ribs are too sore to feel like swinging for the fences, but either way, young Daisy just doesn’t go for the kill the way pundits would expect right after knocking her foe to the mat. If Eliza is in Daisy’s head, she only burrows deeper as she weasels her way out of a few shots early in the eighth and deftly blocks a few of the lower hooks, giving Daisy very little to work with.

Daisy’s frustration seems to creep in a little and Eliza finds some clever shots to the face that keep Daisy on the back foot. Eliza works her way back into it after looking so close to collapse, and really it’s hard to call this with only a couple of rounds left to play if one of these fit, talented boxers can’t find a way to sit down her opponent.

Round 9:
Both fighters coming out somewhat cautiously, knowing they’re a long way through this fight and certainly starting to feel some fatigue. Eliza guarding tightly, but popping quick jabs high at Daisy’s head, trying to force her younger opponent into a costly mistake. Daisy trying to move her feet still, trying not to shuffle the guard too much. Feet obviously slower now, but she’s proven her fitness and is still finding a little space, either running on adrenaline or sheer will.

Through the first minute there isn’t too much action, just a lot of blocking and evading of mostly testing jabs. Then Eliza pushes something stronger for the centre of Daisy’s face, and she draws blood from that cute nose! But just as Daisy’s head snaps back and Eliza leans in with the follow up, another miracle surfaces from the Ridley left glove, shooting straight up at a mile a minute, ROCKING through the underneath of Eliza’s chin!

Ridley stumbles back, shaking the cobwebs from her head, blood dripping slowly from her nose, as Dushku crumbles straight to the canvas for the second time this fight! Daisy is unsteady, but standing, and she watches eagerly as the referee gives Eliza another count, the tough brunette shaking her head and writhing on the mat initially, that shot to the chin knocking her completely loopy.

The crowd are on their feet, hollering at what could right now be a giant upset, and only at 9 does Dushku manage to find her feet as well. The referee stops RIGHT before the ten count and gives Eliza the check over as Daisy curses in her corner, amazed at the spirit of her opponent to be able to fight back up after that second collapse.

Eliza continues, and again there is a lot of turtling as she just tries to hold out through round nine. Daisy jabbing away and Eliza wobbling, but refusing to go down again, just burying her head behind her gloves and absorbing the tummy shots as necessary.

Round 10:
The fans can’t seem to believe it, but we are entering round 10 between these incredible competitors. Daisy looks tired, though perhaps mostly cautious, unwilling to take a big hit after now knocking her opponent down twice, whereas Eliza looks woozy, though determined to try and drop the youngster, being told she may just have to in order to take this fight back before it goes to a decision.

Eliza comes on heavy, swinging up high, collecting Daisy’s guard, then air with a miss, then guard, then air as Ridley leans back, then chin! Daisy staggers, gets the guard up again just in time to absorb most of the straight right that follows, then winces through a left hook to ribs, but refuses to drop the guard and blocks another attempted straight right for face.

Eliza is trying to get through the defences, but Daisy is holding on, blocking mostly, shuffling those feet and leaning back for the rest of it. Not much is landing unless it’s on corresponding leather, bar a decent straight here and there, but they aren’t constant enough to really trouble Daisy. Even a couple of cheeky counter jabs from Ridley help to keep Eliza from really unloading something clean.

The tenth comes to an end without any more knockdowns, and we are going to a decision!

As the points are tallied and the announcer worded up, Eliza looks on a little concerned, while Daisy just looks baffled, having never been a part of a decision before. Ridley leans back in her corner, eyes up at the sky, fingers crossed, breathing heavily. Dushku is standing by her team, glancing nervously between her opponent and the referee, also breathing heavily. The announcer takes to the mic, and here we are, every single member of the crowd on their feet, deathly silent.

“The Winner, by Unanimous Decision in the tenth round… DAISY RIDDDLEYYY!”

The crowd explodes, the entire arena absolutely swamped in a deafening cacophony of roars as Daisy leaps out of her corner, arms raised high, bouncing on the canvas, her crew getting around her for the celebrations of this incredible feat.

Daisy throws a glove in frustration and smacks her other fist into the turnbuckle, clearly annoyed, knowing she had her chances early. But, she settles down after a moment and heads into the centre of the ring to congratulate young Ridley on what is surely a career moment for her.

Daisy Ridley wins, UD10!

Post-fight:
Daisy and Eliza exchange pleasantries mid-ring, with what appears to be a lot of respect. Ridley ever the humble rookie, and Eliza clearly respecting the fight her opponent put in just to stay in the bout early, let alone pushing on to take control. Or perhaps they’re each far too exhausted after that epic display to be anything close to snarky.

After the mutual hand-shake mid-ring, each exhausted fighter is ushered to her respective corner, and politely addresses the media.

“I think I took her a little lightly,” Dushku admitted. “But, she’s good. She won’t be so lucky next time. But, credit to her, she kept going after I put the hurt on her. She’s a tough young thing. She won I guess, so, good chance she’s got a future here. But, I’ll get her next time… in a KO. No more of this decision shit.”

Ridley was all smiles, but similarly respectful. “I CANNOT believe I beat Eliza. Seriously, after the first four or so rounds, I thought I was done. She was just too damn good. I was struggling to find answers for her. But I’m SO happy that I did! And now I’m seven and oh! SEVEN AND OH! Including Vandervoort and Dushku! I’m fucking pumped!”