(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

(Free Agent vs Free Agent)

Intro:
The main event here in the Bells Centre, Montreal, Canada sees Michelle Rodriguez fighting an up and comer in Eliza Taylor.
The fight was set up after Michelle Rodriguez beat Dichen Lachman in her last fight over a month ago, Michelle hoping to keep her comeback momentum going on track.
For Eliza, it's about getting back on the winners table, she won her first three fights but has lost her last two to upset it seems any chance of getting management, with people changing their rosters, a win here could do wonders for her career.
Career wise, Michelle Rodriguez comes into the fight with a record of 8 wins and 8 losses, she has 7 knockouts to her name and is a former FCBA bantamweight champion.
While Eliza Taylor has 3 wins with 2 losses, all 3 of her wins come by knockout and while they are the exact same height, though she's 11 years younger than her Texan opponent.

Meeting at the press conference, both girls were at ease with each other, people have commented that Michelle has seemed friendly with her opponent's since her come back, maybe not taking her opponent's as serious as she should some think.
The girls shook hands and smiled, before sitting down at their own tables for the event, Michelle was given the prompt to speak first.
"Well back at a podium again, to think a few months ago I'd be sitting at home or on a movie set, now I'm in my third fight back and up to now it's been a success" says Michelle as she shakes her head in almost disbelief.
Looking at Eliza, she adds "now this is a test, Dichen and Jolene gave me a certain test, but Eliza is the real deal, I've watched her when I've had time to watch the FCBA and she deserves more credit for what she can do in that ring"
Grinning like a hyena looking at it's next prey, Michelle finishes by saying "when we step into ring though, I am going to be too much for her, I am the girl whose feared around these parts; not her!"
Eliza looks at Michelle with a look of "that's how you want to play this out" she says in her own statement "it's a funny business this boxing, people want you when you win and the first sign of trouble, you become the invisible woman"
Winking, she nods at Michelle and says "but it's true, you are feared Michelle, by most, I'm not someone whose afraid of your name or strength, in fact I welcome the chance to show why I deserve more fights and can be a champion!"
Both girls are up and in the others face, showing they are not afraid of each other as they smirk cockily at the other.
Before they are told it's time to move off the stage and Michelle puts her hand out and tells Eliza "this is the last moment I show you respect, when we fight your all mine"
Eliza slaps the hand away and replies "I'll shake your hand after I beat you in front of the world" which gets a laugh from Michelle, who leaves the stage first and gets a hard stare in her back from Eliza.

Fight night, Michelle is out first, she is wearing a red sports bra, shorts, gloves and shoes, while her brunette hair is braided.
She walks down to the ring with a purpose, almost scowling as she is getting into her zone for this fight as the crowd chant her name "Rodriguez"
Entering the ring, she pumps her right fist to the crowd, then heads to her corner to await the arrival of her opponent.
Eliza now comes out to a good sized cheer from the crowd, the Aussie is wearing all yellow gear, sports bra, shorts, gloves and shoes, her blonde hair is tied into a ponytail as she looks like a golden goddess.
She stares hard at Michelle, not wanting to look nervous but this is the biggest fight of her young career and soon she's climbing into the ring to face this challenge.
The girls go nose to nose, shoving each other with their bodies to win the first psychology test between them, the referee has to step in to calm things down as tempers flare up.
He quickly reads out his instructions as he can see that both girls are gearing up to start with or without his say.
Asked to touch gloves, the girls just stand staring for a moment, then cooler heads seem to preveil as they do touch gloves respectfully, but their eyes tell the story of two highly competitive girls wanting to fight so badly.
The fighters head back to their corners and the referee signals the timekeeper to begin 10 rounds of bantamweight boxing action.

Round 1:
Off we go, Eliza up on her toes as Michelle comes straight on as usual, each trading a stiff jab in the early going, no backward step in either in the early going.
Eliza knows she's in the ring with a shark, so picks up the tempo early, using that jab to test out the tight defences of Rodriguez, then sinks her right fist to the ribs of the Texan to cause her some discomfort early.
Michelle manages to drive forward to land two good straight shots to the face of the Aussie, but misses the following left cross, with Eliza sidestepping it and again delivering to the body with a right hook of her own.
Eliza clearly has a gameplan, she's moving her punches up and down to make Michelle second guess herself, though it's clear the real target is the body area of the older girl, hoping to wear her out and neutralize the power of Michelle.
Michelle is still landing some good shots though, showing her experience and what makes her so feared, she is powering forward and lands a two punch combo, left cross to the face and then a right hook to the body.
As she looks to plough on, Eliza snaps the jab into the nose of Michelle, who lunges where she thinks her blonde opponent is going to be and is surprised when she finds air, as Eliza uses her quick feet to dodge out the way.
Eliza manages to dig another good straight shot near the liver area of Michelle, the Latin fighter is looking slightly worried.
But late in the round, she finally manages to power forwards, knocking Eliza towards the ropes and we get our first full blooded exchange between the two.
Each going at it with blistering shots till the bell, where they hold back their punches and glare hard at each other, Michelle taps her abs and shakes her head to say "no point trying there"
As they return to their corners though, Eliza grins as her and her coach whisper to each other and nod towards Michelle, evidently happy with their gameplan up to now.

Round 2:
Out come the girls quickly, it's Michelle whose picking the pace up now, knowing that she can't let Eliza breath or this will be an early night for her.
An early exchange occurs as the girls are head to head, pounding away at the others body to a loud roar from the crowd.
Eliza tries to step back out the way to create space, but gets clocked across her right cheek with a left hook and finds herself being pressed back under a wave of punches from the Latin fighter.
Forced to the ropes, the girls go hammer and tongs, with Eliza being rocked on the ropes and needing to clinch up.
Michelle is pressing Eliza to the ropes, trying to get into her head, but Taylor doesn't look scared as she snarls and tries to wrestle her opponent back.
The referee gets between the girls and Eliza shoves her way off the ropes to move to space, so as the fight resumes, she moves out of the way of Michelle's punches and now hits her with some power shots.
The crowd are chanting each girls name as the fight goes back and forth, Eliza uses her speed to hurt Michelle, smacking her to the body.
Then Michelle head down, sends looping hooks around the guard of the blonde to knock her head around, then presses her back towards the ropes again, till Eliza sidesteps to freedom.
Late in the round, Michelle takes a hard right hook again just under her jugs to the left side of her body, she's getting more angry with each shot that is hurting her.
She lands a hard straight at the end of the round to give her something to smile about, instead she keeps focused on the task ahead, noting that Eliza is certainly giving her the test she wanted.
Eliza on the other hand doesn't look too worried, her and her coach are still talking tactics, this time he has more to do as his fighters face is starting to show red marks but they see the red marks coming onto Michelle's body and smile to each other.

Round 3:
Eliza starts off the round with a good jabbing drill to keep Michelle on her toes, but soon the American fighter is lunging forward with sweeping shots to force the Australian girl back.
Michelle snaps a jab between the gloves of Eliza and then uses her right to pound away to the body of Taylor, thuds echo in the arena from the shots and Eliza is grimacing in pain.
Gamely though she fires back and actual manages to force Michelle back a step, as the girls bang away at each other, sweat is knocked off bodies and both are grunting loudly under the others assault.
Eliza had to clinch up, Michelle tries to free herself as the two furiously grapple with each other, nudging the others head with their own, till the referee pries the girls apart.
Separated, Michelle again tries to stick to Eliza, not let her have any room to work in, making Taylor have to cover up and move around.
Michelle is looked more frustrated, she can't find that killer punch like she did in her first two fights, instead she can only land scything shots from midrange.
Till she presses Eliza into a corner and unleashes a barrage of punches, the crowd roar for her as they sense the end is nigh.
But Eliza again shows her toughness, taking most of the shots on her arms, then she starts fighting back, both girls hurting the other with some brutal shots to get the crowd standing up to cheer.
Both girls clinch, as the crowd urges them to separate and pound each other into submission, instead it takes the referee to get involved to get order back into the fight.
Late in the round, Michelle still trying to land something and she gets caught with a counter right to the body, followed by two more thudding body shots.
Michelle looks shellshocked at the bell as she stares at Eliza with a stunned look, Eliza just stares hard back, maybe Michelle is just fully realizing how hard of a fight she is in.
Both girls head back to their corners, starting to look sore as red marks are on their faces and bodies.

Round 4:
Michelle goes on the attack straight away, it looks like she's in desperation mode as Eliza bobs and weaves out of the way of her, acting like a matador with an out of control bull.
A hard counter punch to the lips of Michelle, followed by an uppercut rock the Latin fighter back and now Eliza goes on the attack.
The girls trade hard shots but a double jab, followed by a left hook to the body from Eliza force Michelle to take a step back.
There's chatter in the crowd and pundits are questioning each other if Eliza's plan is finally coming to fruition.
Michelle is looking hurt as Eliza whacks her up top with a right cross to knock her back another step and Rodriguez fires back with wild shots, trying to turn the fight around, as her Latin spirit hates being forced back.
Eliza leans out the way of the strikes, then leans back forward to slam a straight to the nose of Michelle, rocking her head back.
Then she mauls Michelle to the body to force her against the ropes, both girls brawl it out on the ropes, but Michelle isn't hitting with the volume of punches Eliza is.
She's forced against her will to clinch up, as the crowd sit back down, after thinking they were going to see a knockout.
The referee pulls the girls apart, Eliza quickly gets back on the attack, almost roaring while she pounds her fists into the body of Rodriguez, who is fighting as hard as she can in a losing battle.
Ending up with Michelle knocked around the ring to the surprise of everyone at ringside, bar Eliza's coach as the clock ticks away this round, not long to go for Michelle to save the round.
She lands a right hook, but it's more a glancing blow, as Eliza walks through it to land a straight to the centre of Michelle's body, causing her to gasp out, she's winded and the bell seems to save her from being put down.
Michelle shoves Eliza as the girls are close together and tempers look ready boil over, but Eliza decides to laugh it off, making Michelle look embarrassed by the entire situation.

Round 5:
Michelle is visibly slower across the ring, she is looking sore judging by her face wincing as she comes forward, she's not going to hide and try to recover, instead wanting to go out on her sword.
The girls trade in the ring centre, snapping each others heads, but it's Eliza who has the momentum and energy to land the harder shots with greater volume to her opponent.
She starts rifling shots to the body of Michelle and forces her back several steps, till she opens up Rodriguez for a hard right hook that seems to force Michelle's body around her fist.
Down to all fours goes Michelle! She spits out her gumshield as she tries to catch her breath, her ribs are hurting like hell to making breathing that much harder.
Eliza leans on the turnbuckles of the neutral corner she's in, watching the referees count, preying that she's beaten Michelle.
At 8, Michelle makes it up to one knee, but cradles her body and can't force her way up to beat the count to a gasp from the crowd, the fight is over!

Winner: Eliza Taylor KO Round 5.

After:
Eliza is jumping for joy and mounts the middle rope in the corner she was standing in, shouting "I knew I could win! I told all of you!" As she holds her fists in the air and lifts her head up to the ceiling.
The crowd roar and clap her, as her crowd comes in and lifts her up into his arms for a big hug, telling her "this is just the start"
Michelle meanwhile pushes her coaches hand away, wanting to stand up herself, she does but stumbles slightly till she can find her feet and catch her breath.
Eliza sees Michelle is up and goes to check on her, while Michelle is annoyed at herself, she shows enough class to talk to the winner to tell her she's OK, then congratulates her on her win.
The winner sees not to press too much, just says "I hope we are OK" which gets a nod from Michelle, who puts her fist out, which Eliza fist bumps to show they have respect for each other.
Both get cleaned up in their corners and their gloves taken off, before they head to the ring centre for the final announcement to declare Eliza the winner.
Michelle applauds her, but heads out of the ring as soon as she can, thinking hard of where she goes after this loss.

Meanwhile in the ring, an interviewer is talking to Eliza, first asking about the fight, which the blonde replies "she is a pain, not as a person of course, she is honest and respectful"
Laughing before continuing "I mean in this ring, she deserves her rep, I was hitting her as hard as I could and she kept coming, that is scary, but I beat the beast as they say"
Asked about her future, "I honestly don't know yet, JMD is always an option, the bantamweight title is my goal but it's a lofty goal at this stage so it's just building at the moment"
She adds "but this win has to have done wonders for my rep, I see people signing girls and I want to throw my name into that hat, anyone wants a prospect with the best fists in the game, then call me up"
She thanks the interviewer with a handshake, before turning and bowing to each side of the ring to show her thanks to the crowd, as tears form in her eyes, thinking of how big a win this is for her life and career.
Leaving the ring, she hugs her coach and thanks him for believing in her, to which he replies "well you are unique, a pain in my backside in training but a winner when it counts" which gets Eliza smiling widely, as they head to the back to celebrate and plan for the future.