(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

(Girls Friday vs Free Agent)

Intro:
The next fight on PPV, sees Elizabeth Henstridge take on Ksenia Solo with both coming off a loss in their last fight to Jane Lavy, who is going home with the wooden spoon. Elizabeth looks to add to her overall boxing record of 2 wins, both by knockout and 2 losses, she's been thrown in the deep end with 2 top 20 fighters and she beat Lyndsy Fonseca in October. Ksenia meanwhile has a record of 3 wins, all by knockout herself and 6 losses, again she has fought some tough contenders like the recent flyweight champion Lucy Hale and is viewed as a sleeper in this division.

Physically, these two are so alike, both 29 years old with Elizabeth just a month older than Ksenia, both are 5'4 and weigh in at the same weight for this fight. As the fighters meet though, it's clear personality wise, they are polar opposites and it seems to create some tension as they come face to face.
Elizabeth always seems shy, she professes to being a geek and she wears it like a badge of honour, Ksenia is a confident woman, verging on arrogant. As they stand together, Elizabeth smiles at Ksenia, trying to be friendly, the Latvian meanwhile looks her opponent up and down and evidently judges her not worthy judging by her face. Pundits though are stunned as the see that the stats don't lie as the girls are literally eye to eye and in great shape that you'd mistake them for twins from afar.

The girls are led to their tables and Elizabeth speaks first, she shows her nerves by brushing her hair behind her ears but finds her voice quickly enough. "Wow it's great to be on PPV again, golly I mean Asylum was unreal, I hope I can say this but all the Front street girls were lovely, even after my fight with Jane, they spoke to me and gave me pointers on where I went wrong so I have a better understanding of this science" says Elizabeth to some snickers in the crowd. She continues "I don't know anything about Ksenia, sorry but I have to be honest but I have heard that she'll give me a good fight and that is what we are here for right?"
Ksenia laughs and claps as she stands, she wipes a tear from her eye off all the laughing she did, before she replies "this is good joke right?"

As she sees Elizabeth look confused, she answers "oh my God! You are serious? You are pushover over, a limp biscuit right? You know nice girls finish last right?"

Elizabeth just looks stunned but doesn't look like she's going to back down as she answers "I don't see the need to be nasty, I try to be.."

Ksenia interupts "you are serious! This is going to be too easy, I might as well let you keep talking, people came to see a fight, not a who can cuddle better, in my home country, you'd be laughed out of the room and told not to bother turning up for fight because you've lost before the bell rings"

Elizabeth shakes her head and Ksenia finishes by saying "be nice, play nice and get your ass kicked by me and every girl around here, maybe not Anna Kendrick but who cares for diamond girl"

Ksenia laughs again as she's asked to pose for a photo with Elizabeth and she waves her hand while saying "waste of time" and leaves Elizabeth alone on the stage.

Fight night and there's a buzz in the air as Elizabeth arrives first with Lauren Berlingeri and Eva Carneiro behind her as they tell her to look proud as she gets a loud cheer.

As she walks down to the ring, Elizabeth is wearing simply black gear, a sports bra, trunks, shoes and gloves, while her hair is up in a ponytail.

Before she enters the ring, she spots some young girls with shirts with her face on with the slogan "the master of the sweet science" written on.

Elizabeth almost starts crying as she can't believe her fan base, Lauren tells her "cry when you win you daft sod" and the fighter from Sheffield enters the ring and waves to the fans.

Out comes Ksenia next, she is wearing a maroon sports bra, matching shorts apart from white stripes up the sides and shoes, she has white gloves to complete her look. She struts down to the ring with her coach behind her and she has that same cocky smile she did at the press conference as she looks at
Elizabeth.

After she enters the ring, Ksenia walks up to Elizabeth and says "are you here to fight girl? If not then turn around and walk away!"
Elizabeth shows she does have fire in her soul by charging up to Ksenia to go nose to nose with her and the two are shoving each other with their bodies as Solo urges Henstridge to try something. The referee gets between the girls and separates them, before getting them to the ring centre to finish his
instructions.

Both girls look ready for this as he asks for a touch of gloves and both girls hammer their gloves together, before quickly getting back to their corners. Ksenia bangs her gloves together as she waits in her corner, the referee soon signals for the bell to start 10 round of flyweight boxing action.

Round 1:
Off we go, both fighters have their guards high and start with some testing shots as each finds tough guards to crack. Ksenia slips under a jab to land two body shots but eats a hard right cross over the top and as she retreats a step, Elizabeth quickly drives forward to land a hard straight and her body dig to the body. The action becomes a true flyweight melee as the exchanges are fluid, fast thrown strikes thud into unprotected parts of flesh. Elizabeth though sneaks a good uppercut under the chin of Ksenia to control the Latvian somewhat. That control doesn't last very long as even after some good body shots of her own, Solo starts firing back and with the two so alike, it's not hard for them to hit each other. Both nearly clash heads as they try to land more impact full punches, instead they clinch up and the referee has to pry the fighters apart. Again they lash out at each other when they are ordered to fight again, the crowd are loving this, as the girls kept striking each other with sniper like shots through to exposed body parts. But late in the round, Elizabeth scores with a right hand over the top that seems to get Ksenia's attention as the bell rings not long after with both girls eye balling each other as if daring the other to try it, before returning to their corners to get cleaned up.

Round 2:
Ksenia picks her level up another gear, dancing around the less experienced Elizabeth, flicking the jab at the guard of Henstridge, before landing some crisp body shots. Elizabeth to her credit is still managing to land some good shots of her own, it's just her volume of punches is less than her opponents and the cleaner shots are from Ksenia. Both dig in to the others body for a moment, till Ksenia sneaks a shot just on the waistline of Elizabeth to suck the air from her body. As Elizabeth retreats, Ksenia doesn't rush in, a cocky grin on her face as she measures up her rival and as she finds her range, she works her right hand up and down her opponent to keep her guessing. Elizabeth does manage to land a hard straight through to the nose of Ksenia but eats a hard three punch combo to put her back on her heels as the Latvian scowls behind her gloves. The English fighter isn't going to down so easily as she fires back with a jab then digs to the body of Ksenia, who shakes her head to say that didn't hurt then shoves Elizabeth back and lands a left hook to swivel her opponents head around to the side. Ksenia just isn't letting Elizabeth get into any sort of rhythm as she is keep slipping punches and rifling her own punches through. As the last ten seconds were announced, both girls came together to trade furiously till the bell rang, each staring hard at the other, Ksenia says "too easy" before she turns and jogs to her corner. Elizabeth stares daggers into her back and the mild mannered Henstridge is getting riled up by her opponents actions as she slinks back to her own corner.

Round 3:
Both girls come out the blocks quickly this round, cracking each other around their faces till Ksenia slips a hard jab to land her own straight punch to Elizabeth's lips. The English girls head snaps back and she backs away to give Ksenia what she's after, the ring centre, as it allows her to work at her own pace and force Elizabeth to waste energy fighting on the outside. Elizabeth does land a good double jab to snap Ksenia's head back, as she tries to drive forwards though, Ksenia meets her head on in a furious exchange and a right hook to the body by the Latvian forces her back to the outside again. The round seems to take on this sort of pattern, Ksenia using her range of punches to dig Elizabeth back, then Henstridge burst forward for a true flyweight slugfest. Fists flying quickly as the crowd tries to work out whose hitting who till Ksenia sneaks something in to force Elizabeth backwards towards the ropes. Late in the round though, Elizabeth faints up top and lands a sneaky uppercut from her right to make Ksenia stumble back. Now as Elizabeth drives onwards, the action is fast and furious still but Ksenia looks to he getting the worse of it as she hasn't the time to reset herself to power her way back to the centre. The crowd roar as they blast each other hard to the face and then Elizabeth uses her shoulder to press Ksenia back with ten seconds to go and digs to the centre of Solo's body to hurt her. The bell rings with both girls nose to nose as Ksenia says "don't push your luck bytch, go down and run away little girl" In reply, Elizabeth shoves her as she's sick of Solo and the referee has to get between both fighters as they try to get back at each other. Finally they calm down and return to their corners, some swelling is appearing on their cheeks and Elizabeth's bottom lip looks sore.

Round 4:
Ksenia tries to get back into the ring centre but Elizabeth is right in her face and the two fighters slug it out in tight. Elizabeth is forcing Solo back with drilled body shots, pumping one sharp punch after the other into the centre of her body. Now Ksenia finds herself being backed up towards the outside of the ring and Elizabeth is throwing several shots at a time to keep her opponent stuck towards the ropes. The Latvian tries to force her back forward but Elizabeth is now in her own top gear and Ksenia can't match it. Her head is being caught with a mixture of shots and an uppercut drill knocks her to the ropes, she looks to be slumped on them, but has enough to clinch onto Henstridge. The referee has to get involved to drag both girls apart as they grapple on the ropes, as they separate, Ksenia tries to strike first but Elizabeth uses a shoulder roll to slip the punch and cracks Ksenia to her left cheek with a right cross. Ksenia again looks hurt and is covering up as Elizabeth forces her to move around or get caught and hurt even worse. Elizabeth drives forward to pin Ksenia on the ropes late in the round to try and the end fight but Ksenia covers up and uses her experience to counter till the bell. Both girls scowl at each other but now Elizabeth looks slightly happier now but Ksenia seems to still get under her skin with more comments like "lucky bytch" Lauren keeps Elizabeth calm with her words as Eva works on reducing her swelling on her cheeks. Ksenia meanwhile is speaking in her native tongue and by her tone, she's not happy with her coach it seems and she is pointing at Elizabeth, clearly not saying anything nice in that way either.

Round 5:
Ksenia is trying to get back into this fight but Elizabeth is free flowing with her punches, not throwing many power shots, just forcing her opponent onto the backfoot with a flurry of punches. Then as Ksenia lunges in with a right hook, Elizabeth ducks out the way and digs her to the centre of the body and Solo is hurt! She slumps slightly and backtracks as she looks winded, Elizabeth's eyes light up as she moves forward with her jab snapping the unprotected head of her opponent. Ksenia desperately tries to go for a clinch but a right hand across her body seems to curl Solo's body around the fist and down goes Ksenia! The Latvian is holding her side as she lays on her back after starting on all fours, she looks in agony as the referee is counting her. Elizabeth stands in a neutral corner and looks ready if called upon to come after Ksenia, but the referee reaches 10 and could probably reach higher as the fight is over.
Winner: Elizabeth Henstridge KO Round 5

After:
Elizabeth raises her fists as the crowd cheer for her as while the bad girls bring the fans in, it's them getting beat that earns the happy ending for the crowd. Ksenia is helped to a stool by her coach, still cradling her stomach as she catches her breath after the body assault she received. Showing some nativity, Elizabeth tries to go and check on Ksenia, for her efforts she earns a scowl and a "f*** you" in reply.

Shaking her head, Elizabeth leaves Ksenia to her bad mood and returns to her corner to bump fists with Lauren and Eva to show her thanks for their help.

The girls all share a group hug that could have been the Girls Friday Christmas card this year, as they celebrate the win. Ksenia scowls over at that scene and quickly leaves the ring with her coach acting as a crutch, as her side is still sore. Elizabeth bows to each side of the crowd, then leaves the ring and goes over to the girls with the shirts with her face on and signs their shirts. As an added bonus, she gives the one she thinks is the youngest her gloves from tonight that gets the girls shouting "oh my God!"repeatedly.

Elizabeth sheds a tear as those girls support for her has made her Christmas, she never thought that people would show her love in this sport as she's not your typical fighter, but she is surprised every time she comes out to fight.

She heads to the back with her coaching staff and gives a quick statement to the press.

"I am truly humbled, those fans are truly amazing, a nerd like me boxing is something that I thought would be laughed at, seeing those girls, it's..." Says Elizabeth as she wells up again with tears.

She adds "Ksenia is the type of girl I expect to fight, ones who look down on me because I respect people before a punch is thrown but look what happened to her tonight, girls like Anna Kendrick show that you can be kind and go in the ring and fight like a tiger and win!”

Thanking the press, Elizabeth leaves with Lauren and Eva trying to stop her crying by telling her what they have planned tonight to celebrate the holidays.