Tale of the Tape:
Danielle Herrington:
Age: 27
Height: 5'10
6-3 (6KOs)
Vs
Romee Strijd:
Age: 25
Height: 5'11
11-9 (11KOs)

(Global Boxing Syndicate vs Lioness Club)

(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

Intro:
Now we have two women chasing the leading pack meeting head on, Danielle Herrington and Romee Strijd both have won two of their diamond tournament bouts out of four, a loss here will push them back as the winner hunts a third place finish.

In the tournament Danielle has defeated Bridget Regan and Antje Utgaard, while Romee has beaten also Bridget Regan and Damaris Lewis, while winning the tournament is nigh on impossible, both can still finish in the top three and prove they are a contender in their own right.

First up in the FCBA Network studio for the prematch statements was Danielle, heading in wearing a "Global Boxing Syndicate" black stable shirt, the letters in white, black jeans and white heels, she looks relaxed as she sits down on the stool.

Starting off by telling the camera "I hope you all didn't write me off, I started the tournament rough but now I have my feet under me, it's time for me to keep ploughing through the field to show I am a future champ in the making" grinning at that.

"Funny thing is I know Romee is seen as having plenty of potential too, she is supposedly going to be a champion too, let's be honest as long as I am around she won't be, I'll be the leader of this new generation, not Romee or Antje (Utgaard) or any of these jokes who think they belong on par with me" says the beautiful American as she stands up, waving her hands in front of her body as if to prove why she will be the top dog of the division.

Romee jogs onto the set wearing a black hoodie, pink shirt underneath with "Victoria Secret" in gold letters, black yoga pants with a white stripe down the sides, white trainers with gold trim, laughing as she admits "I nearly forgot about this today, I was training and Melanie (Brown) had to remind me" laughing as there are chuckles behind the camera from the producers.

Grinning as she looks at the camera, Romee tells the world "see I have been loving the tournament that much, I have been training harder then ever because knowing each of these fights are so tough has me so excited, I can't half ass a session or it will show in the ring against these talents, Danielle is another top talent coming through" nodding as she taps her knees with her hands.

Then she has an inquisitive look as she says "talking of Danielle, I have seen the way you have been dismissing me on social media as someone who will be following you in the rankings, last I checked I am the one who beat the BBU welterweight champion, I am the one who has more fights and hell I am younger then you, so whoever is lying to you will have a funny look when I knock you out and walk over you to bigger things, I respect your talents but don't disrespect me" standing up raising her right fist with a big smile, showing Danielle what awaits her.

Fight night, out first comes Danielle with Jeri Ryan beside her, Danielle smiling as she jogs down the aisle, tapping her gloves together as she nods, looking ready to prove her claims about herself and Romee, no hints of worry that she could be wrong.

The beautiful American steps into the ring wearing her favourite metallic blue coloured sports bra, matching trunks and shoes, blue gloves with yellow thumbs, her hair is braided as she raises her fists into the air as she bounces on her toes in her corner, shadowboxing as Jeri tells her to outbox Romee.

Who heads out now with Mel behind her, the Dutch beauty blows kisses to the crowd as she jogs down the aisle, Mel smiling as she looks confident in her fighter, Romee bouncing on her toes at the ring steps as she looks into the ring with a smile as she sees Danielle staring at her with daggers in those eyes.

Stepping through the ropes, Romee poses at the middle of the ring with her arms in the air getting cheered by her fans, Romee is wearing her national colours, an orange sports bra with a white Lioness head on the right bra cup, orange trunks, gloves and boots, her hair is in a ponytail as she heads to her corner, fist bumping Mel before she stretches to limber up for the task at hand.

Coming to the center of the ring, the fighters shake their arms to keep loose as they stare unblinking at each other, trying to psyche their opponent out, both women not showing any worry about their opponent, instead looking ready to settle this growing feud.

Told by the referee to touch their gloves up, the fighters quickly swipe gloves with their opponent, then jog back to their corners, both nodding they are ready to the referee, the bell rings to start 10 rounds of welterweight action.

Round 1:
Fighting behind their jabs to start, both women are moving on their toes as they have a textbook orthodox stance, heads moving when their opponent comes in with a short flurry, it is an evenly fought opening minute for them.

Finally the first meaningful combination lands as Danielle feints with her jab, dipping under a left cross by Romee, banging in two right hooks to the body, her overhand left doesn't land flush, it does make the Dutch beauty need to retreat back.

On come Danielle as she seems to have found the confidence to take the fight to Romee, landing several one-two combos as she begins to outwork her opponent, Romee starting to fall back behind her guard as Mel is yelling at her not to shell up.

As they enter the final minute does Romee start to land some harder shots in return, catching the aggressive Herrington coming forwards, the cleaner punches are coming from the American fighter as she buries in her fists predominantly into the face of Strijd.

At the bell it is a great start for Danielle, Jeri is smiling as she returns to her corner, Mel meanwhile is telling Romee not to cover up as quickly, instead try to use her footwork when she can to get out of danger so she doesn't get pinned down.

Round 2:
Again they start off similar to the opening round, jabs their primary weapon to kick off things, more straights come down the barrel into faces and even some into chests to make both women hiss out.

Starting to step into her punches more, Danielle is claiming the center of the ring, Romee not throwing with as much output as Danielle is, an annoyed look forming onto the face of the Lioness fighter as she is being outboxed so far.

Now at the half way point in the round, Romee starts to throw in more cross punches, hoping to land something big to turn the tide, they are easy to spot though, WITH DANIELLE STEPPING IN WITH AN UPPERCUT FLUSH ON THE CHIN OF A MOVING FORWARDS ROMEE TO MAKE HER FALL ON HER RIGHT KNEE!

The crowd are stunned by how dominant Danielle has been so far, 1...2...3.. Romee shaking her head as she got buzzed there, 4...5...6.. Mel not looking pleased one bit as she yells at her fighter to get up, 7...8.. Romee beats the count with her gloves up, the referee gives her the OK after wiping her gloves down.

On comes Danielle as she looks to end this early, missing with a few haymaker like rights as Romee has her legs under her, pulling Danielle into a clinch when the aggressive fighter gets in too close, both digging rabbit punches to the back of their opponent's head.

Broken apart with not long to go, Romee finds herself under more pressure as a one-two slams into her face, backed into a corner by Herrington, the bell rings to have maybe just saved Strijd from an early shower, Mel yelling at her to get her head out the clouds.

Round 3:
As expected Danielle is out quick looking to close the book on this fight, landing some crisp punches straight into the face of Romee, making the blonde have to hold onto her as they get near the ropes, nearly tripping up as Danielle desperately tries to break free.

The referee does it for them, with the opening minute nearly all Danielle, her aggression is giving Romee a headache along with a mouse under her left eye from Danielle's straight finding a home there.

As they enter the second minute, Romee starts to use that aggression against Danielle, slipping punches before burying her fists into the abs of Herrington, even landing a left cross flush across her face as Mel nods with a smile.

Danielle looks a little puzzled as she can't workout how to close off the ring, each time she is going to Romee slips out of danger, then lands two to three punch combos back into her face to make her think.

Final moments of the round sees a more energized Strijd come at Herrington, there's a grandstand finish to the round as both stand their ground, striking hard and fast as grunts and groans ring out, till the round comes to a close with both women staring hard at each other before returning to their stools, that was a very even round, one thing is for sure it was Romee's best.

Round 4:
It seems like Romee has found an answer to Danielle, her counter punching is really slowing down Herrington, those punches drilling into gaps left in the guard of Danielle when she misses.

A left hook to the body helps Danielle get some momentum back, stepping in closer to trade to make it more a firefight, the crowd cheering the fighters on as they hammer their opponent's tight abs while bumping shoulders.

Giving Danielle a little nudge back, Romee steps back enough to open up space for an uppercut to the body, that makes Danielle hiss out as she didn't tense up in time to really stop the blows effects, Romee getting back on her back as the game of cat and mouse begins again.

Final minute of the round sees Danielle frustratedly throwing more looping punches, Romee spotting this change moves in with a right that lands to the liver area, making Herrington wince as she backs off.

The tables have turned as Romee beats back Danielle to the ropes, the GBS fighters guard struggling to cope with the assault coming her way, especially with the body punches that are making her tighten her bum as they are definitely hurting her.

The round ends with Romee jogging back to her corner, Danielle on the other hand walks to hers as she holds her stomach, Jeri getting ice packs on the affected area as Danielle hisses under the touch, Romee's eyes keenly watching how Danielle is reacting.

Round 5:
The bounce in Danielle's step seems to have lessened, Romee now able to outwork her as they box around the middle of the ring, Danielle giving Romee a warning not to take her too lightly with a left hook that sends some sweat flying from the blondes head.

Using more feints to try to get an opening to strike in, Romee finds it as she sidesteps a straight from Danielle to the left of the American, HER RIGHT HOOK THEN POUNDS SQUARE INTO THE LIVER OF DANIELLE! WHO TUMBLES DOWN ONTO ALL FOURS!

"Yes!" Yells Strijd as she walks to the neutral corner, getting a smile and a nod from her coach, 1...2...3... Danielle spits out her mouthpiece so she can get some air, 4...5...6.. Trying to push up to her knees, Danielle cries out as she is really suffering, 7...8.. Going back to all fours as tears drop onto the canvas, 9...10 Herrington is counted out!

Winner Romee Strijd KO Round 5

After:
A tremendous come back by Romee there! She jumps for joy as Mel rushes into the ring, embracing her fighter as she is so relieved that Romee was able to turn this fight around after such a terrible start to proceedings.

The loser is gutted as you'd expect, Danielle needing to be consoled as Jeri kneels to her right, left hand on her back as she tells Danielle "tonight was another harsh learning experience, you can build off tonight" helping Danielle to slowly sit on her haunches as she places an ice pack on her body.

The fighters eyes meet as Romee flexes her right arm to tell Danielle that she is stronger then her, Danielle staring angrily through tear soaked eyes, believing that she should be the one standing as Romee kneels in front of her crying.

Once Danielle feels good enough to stand, she asks Jeri to help her out the ring, she can't bare to see Romee get her hand raised, she wipes tears from her eyes as she heads up the aisle to the back, it was another good performance in defeat but how many times can she do this before she either wins these type of fights or slumps?

Back in the ring Romee on the other hand is beaming, she goes to get her left hand raised by the referee, while blowing a kiss to the crowd with her right, marking another win for the beautiful Dutch fighter on her road up the rankings.

Doing a lap of honour as she waves to her adorning fans, Romee is staying on her path right now to get third place in this tournament, some pundits thought she would struggle to make headway in the field, here we are with her third win out of five fights.

As she steps out the ring with Melanie, now will she consolidate her push or will it come crumbling down in her last two fights? Antje Utgaard and Bo Krsmanovic both await her in her remaining tournament fights.