Natalie Dormer vs Meghan Markle
(8-5-1, 6 KO vs 6-8, 5 KO)
BWO Rankings: #47 vs #84
Results: Lookout; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: We rarely see FCBA action take place outside of USA - unless we talk about those fancy beach boxing cards somewhere in Bahamas - but Natalie Dormer simply had to visit her native England before her career drifts into obscurity. O2Arena in London hosts the international edition of Celebrity Boxing After Dark and Dormer's opponent is someone who made a rapid entry into the English tabloids over the last four months, Meghan Markle. The Los Angeles native was revealed as Price Harry's girlfriend in early November which immediately elevated her to the media spotlight she could only dream of through her regular acting job. Nothing tops the royal connection and quite frankly, Markle's new found fame exceeds the attention Dormer was relying on as one of the UK's most recognized Hollywood exports.

Natalie Dormer wears a silver bikini top, navy blue knickers and matching blue gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a curly ponytail. Meghan Markle wears a red bikini set and black gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a sleek ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Natalie's earned a tough cookie reputation in the ring but now that the royal spotlight is on Meghan's side, the American is almost forced to push for glory early on as she squares up to her opponent and seeks a jabbing success in close range. She targets Natalie's midsection after getting blocked off upstairs in the initial tangle however the blonde scythes across the liver area and dumps the charging brunette back onto her heels. She then misses a key hook on the jaw though and allows Meghan to scamper back to safety while displaying superior footwork skills. Dormer tries to chase her down but wastes precious energy in a fruitless pursuit and has to soak up a late counterpunching flurry with Markle settling down in her newly acquired aggressive approach. Dormer is less than impressed at the bell and gives the older actress a really long stare before turning back to her corner.

Round 2:
Dormer beats Markle for the initial punch and nails the brunette on the left eye before driving more leather on the chest - Meghan clearly didn't anticipate such a twist of her opponent's targets and slides back to the ropes allowing the Reading-born actress to send in more promising juice. Natalie keeps hassling the older girl and traps her along the ropes easier than most of the pundits and fans alike expected but she can't quite land that haymaker punch to really dump Markle into serious trouble. Allthough shut down butt-in-ropes for large parts of the round, Meghan excells while looping single hand response from behind the guard and Natalie's woeful execution lets her down as she allows the brunette to clinch her come the final minute and neutralize the otherwise superior position of the English lass. The London crowd keeps supporting both women here and that indicates the House of Windsor does have a solid following around the boxing community - perhaps not the most popular fun fact available.

Round 3:
Natalie keeps swinging around Meghan's head and one of these punches is destined to finally break the American's early stride... or perhaps not as the older girl seeks the close range approach and cross hooks herself into a dominant position with Dormer getting nailed on the windpipe and gasping for air after all that initial hussle. Both girls actually clash heads while leaning into each other moments later but that moment of respite on the referee's orders allows the blonde to catch her breath back and Meghan's visibly upset over the missed opportunity. We resume the action in the center of the ring and Natalie's overhand swinging cashes in after a while, the sheer ammount of leather thrown at Markle renders her a little hesitant in pulling the trigger and enables the blonde to power ahead with a steady jabbing assault to the body come the final minute. Meghan tries to avoid getting pounded back to the ropes but succumbs to the onslaught and winces in pain when Dormer blasts her across the liver area to sign off a promising comeback effort.

Round 4:
The fight swings back & forth now as Natalie's execution still prevents her from truly hurting the brunette, it's an eye-pleasing effort from both girls though even if the boxing purists would rue the number of strikes missing the targets. Meghan lands that big punch as the first of the two and snaps Natalie's head backwards before driving a follow up uppercut that softens the blonde's knees and sends her into a tailspin. Despite all the early promise, Dormer must yield real estate and drops back to the ropes while struggling to land the noteworthy punches from behind the guard like the American did earlier. Subsequently the final minute belongs to Meghan who keeps her opponent trapped in the corner and lands a nasty left/right combo on the nasal ridge that leaves a visible shiner on the blonde's pretty face. Natalie's really upset about losing the momentum and gives the California tourist another lenghty stare while barely keeping her emotions in tact.

Round 5:
One could easily explain why these girls are ranked on the fringes of bantamweight contention - and that's a generous statement - after another feisty tangle ultimately results in another clinching and shoving struggle. Both women refuse to let go of the dubious tactics and the O2 Arena audience anticipates a lenghty dire period now - which indeed becomes the case. It's still too close to call but strenght and stamina could decide the outcome of this bout with the crisp punches and highlight reel knockdowns nowhere to be seen instead. Some nasty punches bounce off the midsections in a hectic struggle for supremacy but both women have grown to accept the durable script and make little inroads in the latter stages of the round, in fact there's hardly any strikes flying in over the top alltogether as Natalie manouvers the brunette into the ropes and applies more of a standing breast smother rather than actually trying to box her in a proper manner.

Round 6:
No immediate change in the wrestling ordeal in the ring and the London crowd finally cranks up the negative emotions urging for some spicy punches to fly. Natalie responds to the demand and hoofs Meghan's gloves aside before rattling her on the jaw with a crisp uppercut combo but the brunette still lets one go despite wobbling back to her heels in the proccess - she nails the blonde on the mouth and half-spins away from a follow up hook... Natalie puts too much weight forward and Markle's bendy touch allows her to slip away from the looming clinch and BLAST a right hook on the ear that dumps the Reading lass face-forward into the ropes. Markle harpoons the suddenly exposed opponent on the guts - and she was lucky that Natalie half-tuned at her to avoid the kidneys assault but that actually leaves Dormer all wrapped up in a frantic brunette daze for remainder of the round. Dormer can't find her feet while getting nuked in close range and Meghan scowls in her effort to shove her foe through the ropes alltogether. Ugh-oh... the blonde screams out when she gets spiked on the solar plexus but the sheer ammount of Markle's leather finally allows her to score big and the English actress is left on extremely soft knees at the bell with the American now posting the death stares all around the O2 Arena. Prince Harry must be really proud of his girlfriend's comeback here...

Round 7:
Natalie's much slower of the two across the boards after taking that nasty beating late in the sixth and Meghan's too experienced not to take advantage of her visibly shaken opponent. The mental strenght remains in tact for Dormer but the body doesn't respond to the increased physical demand and the younger actress gets caught up in another frantic close range assault, this time the methodical dissection of her defense results in a genuine bloody nightmare as Meghan rips the blonde's lips into a seeping mess and sticks a flurry of jabs that simply drop Natalie's guard. Ugh! It's like someone pulled the plug on the Reading faithful but the brunette's fully in the groove and bulldozes the subdued girl back to the ropes where she hauls in another vicious uppercut combo to roll the red carpet her looming victory... Dormer's legs are almost gone now and so is her guard, her gloves sag against the chest but that simply invites Markle into slicing her nasal ridge into more nasty shiners and soon the blonde's head swivels back & forth with the American cleaning out shop... the crowd's no longer concerned about the English victory hopes fading into extinction but the REF STILL STEPS IN to prevent Dormer from getting the lights knocked out of her... TKO7 Meghan Markle!!!

AFTER: Natalie's FCBA comeback is anything to write home about - that's two defeats in a row this season - but more worryingly, Meghan Markle is someone whom the Reading actress should be knocking into the ground rather easily to warrant the high-profile export hype. Dormer's career might have reached the high-water mark back when she stopped the Hall Of Famer Britney Spears and even the most loyal English supporters are left gobsmacked over tonight's result. The somewhat woozy blonde fails to address the rumours of her looming BBU transfer but the facts are truly brutal, she hasn't won a fight on this side of the Atlantic since August 2014 and that's a telling sign for someone who just turned 35 last month.

Meanwhile it's all smiles for Meghan Markle, adding the boxing success to her already improved glamour status in the UK simply must aid her career prospects on both sides of the pond now and shoot her up the Boxing World rankings. After all, she just upset a girl ranked 37 places above her. That's no mean feat regardless of the crowded nature of the bantamweight elite contenders. Several UK-based pundits hoped for Markle to browse her own BBU transfer plans this summer but any victory under the FCBA banner seemingly renders those ideas improbable.

Final result: Meghan Markle def. Natalie Dormer TKO7.