Tale of the Tape:
Cara Delevingne:
Age: 29
Height: 5'8
W/L: 15-19 (15KOs)
European Cup tournament winner 2020.
Vs
Lily Aldridge:
Age: 36
Height: 5'8
W/L: 24-12 (24KOs)

(Diamond Elite Boxing vs Lioness Club)

(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

Intro:
It is now time for the main event! While the Rest of the World team has retained the International Cup with their third triumph in a row, this is the captains bout so you know both women won't want to lose, for Cara she'll want to give her team an empathic win, Lily meanwhile will hope to save some face for the USA team.

Ahead of the contest both women took part in a press conference to sell the event, the stage had a podium at the center, both captains national flags hanging up, as the hall rented out for the press conference is full of journalists and camera crews from around the world.

Coming on the stage from separate sides, Cara and Lily are wearing bikinis with their tops with their national flag pattern on, they face off hands behind their back, chests pressed together as they intensely lock gazes, then after a few moments they step back to face off with fists raised as the silver International Cup trophy is placed behind them on the podium to show what this is all about, afterwards there is a handshake between them before they head apart to sit on stools brought out for them.

The Trophy is moved to a plinth on Cara's side of the stage since her team are the defending champs, Cara is asked to speak first at the podium, where she struts up to with a warm smile, starting off by jokingly saying "I didn't expect to get the captains gig myself guys, so you can all relax about your comments" laughing with some in the crowd.

"It is a privilege to have this job picking the Rest of the World team this year and fighting for them, the FCBA has been dominated predominantly since it's inception by American fighters, over the last few years though we have shown as a team that we ain't so bad at this fighting game ourselves" says Cara with a wink at the end, a playful mood to her clearly as she isn't lacking any confidence.

She looks over at Lily as she finishes up by telling her "to be clear I respect you Lily, your team couldn't have a better captain this year in my eyes, once that bell rings though it will be all about us, I am not coming over here to lose love" nodding to Lily before she retreats to her stool.

Lily nods back with a grin, walking up to the podium with a relaxed look as she looks around the room, she starts by saying "as you can guess this is truly a privilege and an honour for me to captain the American team, it's nice Cara says I am the best person for the job, but my job is to bring home the trophy you see on Cara's side of the stage, if I do that then I'll agree with her on my suitability" smiling as she looks at the trophy for a moment.

"I am proud of the team of fighters I have put together, we have a good base of up and coming fighters hungry for success, I know they will give their heart and souls for our team, I know every man and woman in America will be behind us and for you we will kick some ass" Lily nods to the camera as she speaks, as if making a promise to all those watching this.

Turning to Cara, Lily finishes her statement by saying "I respect you too Cara, as you made clear though once that bell rings I ain't giving you a moment to breath, you better bring your best because I am not leaving that ring a loser" Cara nods along with Lily, both setting the terms of engagement, no one is giving to give the other an inch in this battle, leaving the stage with determined looks on their gorgeous faces.

Fight night in Nebraska's Pinnacle Bank Arena, the crowd isn't as energized now they know the trophy isn't coming home to them, it is placed on a podium at ringside for all to see for the Rest of the World team to lift up, first though it's time for the captains to battle.

First through the curtain is Cara with her coach Davina McCall beside her, both look excited as they walk down the aisle, so much so that Cara walks right around the ring so she can gaze at the trophy, Davina reminding her she has Lily to focus on first, with Cara climbing through the ropes wearing a blue sports bra, matching gloves and boots, Union Jack pattern trunks, hair braided as she dances on her toes stretching to keep loose.

Now here comes Lily looking in an intense mood, she marches down the aisle with Claudia Schiffer behind her, jogging up the ring steps looking over at the trophy, knowing she has failed to reclaim it, now it's about proving she is better then Cara, she climbs into the ring wearing a red sports bra, matching gloves and boots, American flag design trunks, hair in a ponytail as she stretches as well.

The fighters soon enough step to the center of the ring, Cara has a grin as Lily stares hard at her, a crack of leather rings out as the fighters touch gloves not so lovingly, they jog back to their corners, getting last second advice as gumshields go in, the bell rings to start 10 rounds of lightweight action.

Round 1:
"Ding!" At the bell both come out to the center trading stiff single punches, they have a similar reach so both are finding their target quite early, some nice movement by both stunning models as they dodge to try to create an opening to land a power punch, neither able to land one clean in the opening minute of the round.

It's Lily who lands the first real power shot, feinting with her left, she crouches under a jab and lands first a left hook under the ribs of Cara, followed by an overhand right to the cheek of the English fighter to turn her head, Lily doesn't waste a second to drive back Delevingne into the ropes, bashing away to the body of the younger fighter, Cara clinching up with Lily, both toned bodies grinding together as Lily presses her along the ropes to make this uncomfortable for Cara.

Broken apart with less then a minute to go, Lily certainly is motivated as she jams a one-two combo through her opponent's mitts to knock her head back, Cara forced to the outside as Lily holds the center of the ring, more combos flying off both women as Cara is circling around the outside part of the ring till the bell rings, a strong start for Lily as she marches back to her stool, not looking in a good mood understandably.

Round 2:
Lily looks to keep the pressure on her opponent but is met with a solid three punch combo from Cara, who looks warmed up now as she is bouncing more side to side firing out combinations, causing Lily to have to tighten up her guard as she looks for a way to press Cara.

A straight catches Cara in her chest, allowing Lily to start backing up her rival captain, Cara needing to give Lily a shove to create space for her to escape into, Aldridge taps her gloves together as she looks keen to get back at Delevingne, both women landing some crisp punches through guards as they box around the ring.

A missed right cross leaves Lily open to a counter left to her cheek, Cara bashes her to the face with a follow up double jab then a straight combo, driving back Lily to the outside part of the ring, Lily needing to cover up as Cara now starts to pick her punches, switching from downstairs to upstairs with her combos, when the round ends Cara nods to Davina, while Lily shakes her head to herself, knowing she can't let Cara build up a head of steam.

Round 3:
As they box around the ring, it's clear Cara has loosened up as she is landing two punches to Lily's one early on, the crowd sound discontent as Lily is being outboxed at the moment, her cheeks marked up as Cara moves around her, keeping Lily where she wants her in the opening minute.

Again though Lily is motivated not to let this night be a total disaster for her, she ducks under a straight to bang in a right to the body, a left hook follows as clearly she hopes to take the air out of her opponent's tires, Cara needing to shell up as she gets driven onto the ropes, dragging Lily into a clinch as both fighters grapple for a moment till they are broken apart.

Lily is over aggressive again when they resume, Cara catching her with a double jab into her nose after dodging a left hook, a straight knocks back Lily to her heels, where she is driven into a neutral corner by Cara, who starts swinging in uppercuts that Aldridge blocks, another clinch ensures as Lily this time wants to slow her opponent down, at the bell it's another solid round for Delevingne.

Round 4:
Claudia reminding Lily she has to make her punches count, the advice clearly getting through as Lily isn't charging in as she was starting to do, boxing with Cara around the ring, Cara still looking to be landing more punches, Lily is catching her with the crisper shots as she rocks back the head of the Rest of the World captain.

Also when they get to the second minute of the round, Lily cuts off the ring with her movement, landing a left hook followed by a straight to knock her opponent onto the back foot, Cara being forced into her own corner, where Davina is yelling at her as thudding shots ring out from Lily using Cara's body like it's a drum, Cara lands a few good shots into Lily's face before hanging onto her.

They are split apart but Lily is keeping on the attack, forcing a hard fought exchange on the inside, Cara starting to plant her feet to trade, getting caught with more hard shots from her opponent, an uppercut sends Cara onto her heels, the bell rings not long after to maybe save Cara being sent to her backside there, a stern look is shared by both fighters as this isn't a fight either personally can lose.

Round 5:
Both start off trading more harder shots as Cara seems to want to make Lily respect her, maybe not the smartest choice as Lily deflects a straight to pound in one of her own, a cut opening up on Delevingne's bottom lip from a left cross, making her back off as Lily marches after her with a venomous look on her face.

A straight knocks back Cara's head as she is forced onto the ropes, Lily going back to the body when Cara shells up, there's some redness starting to show on the English girls body, Cara needing to fire back as the crowd is starting to come alive again, a shove allows Cara to get away from the ropes into space.

Doubling up her jab again as she gets back onto her bike, Cara realising she won't win by trying to match intensity with Lily, she has to be smarter then her as they fight around the middle of the ring, Lily struggling to close down Cara in the final moments of the round, the round comes to an end with both women jogging to their corners now glistening under the lights, Davina patching up Cara as she advisers her what she needs to change up, Lily meanwhile nodding as she listens to Claudia, tapping her gloves together as she stands ready for the next round.

Round 6:
Stepping back out to fight, Lily is looking to catch Cara with a big shot, she misses though with a right hook, taking a counter jab onto her chin, with a right cross catching Lily on her jaw, forcing Lily to back up till she swings in a left hook that finds thin air, A COUNTER RIGHT HOOK CATCHES LILY ACROSS TO SEND HER DOWN TO HER RIGHT SIDE!

The crowd is silenced as Cara heads to the neutral corner with a grin, 1...2...3... Lily shakes her head as she moves to all four, 4...5...6.. Lily pushes to her knees, looking at the referee with a furious look on her face, 7...8.. Lily gets to her feet, fists raised to show she isn't done yet.

They resume with Cara looking to catch Lily, missing with her early attempts as Lily shows her legs are still firmly under her, with Lily landing a few nice counter punches, Cara though finds a gap in Lily's guard, landing a straight into the chin of the older fighter, driving her back towards the ropes, throwing a flurry towards the head of Aldridge as she looks to end this now.

Pulling Cara into a clinch, Lily needing a moment to recover, both women pulled apart by the referee, they trade single punches as Cara steps after Lily, the bell soon rings with Delevingne can't help but grin as she returns to her stool, Aldridge looking ready to curse up a storm, Claudia needing to help settle her down as they talk.

Round 7:
Cara is hunting down Lily as they trade single punches, Lily landing a few nice punches towards the chest of Cara to force her to stay on the outside, Cara just missing with a left hook, Lily landing a double jab into the cut lip of the English fighter to keep her on the outside.

Ducking under a straight Lily catches Cara to the liver area with a right, that makes Delevingne wince as she backs off, Lily looks to have hurt her now as she tries to drive Cara back, things turning scruffy as they end up clinched, nearly tripping over each others legs as they grapple, heads grinding together as the referee has to break them up.

That liver shot definitely looks to have turned the tables as Cara is getting caught more when they trade, her lip is bleeding again as Lily slams in a crisp one-two combo, Cara lands a double jab into Lily's face in reply, they nearly clash heads again as they are desperate to win, the round comes to an end with a little shoving match, referee holding them back as their chests rise faster, returning to their corners with both fighters camps working on patching them up.

Round 8:
Back at it they go as Cara isn't up on her toes as much, Lily soon deflects a straight, then rams a right into the chest of her opponent, THEN A FOLLOW UP RIGHT SLAMS INTO CARA'S LIVER AREA AGAIN, THIS TIME CARA GOES DOWN TO ALL FOURS!

The crowd roars as Lily raises her right arm in the air from the neutral corner, nodding to them before looking at Cara, 1...2...3....4.. Cara spits out her gumshield as she winces, 5...6... Sucking in air as she pushes to her heels, 7...8.. Holding her stomach, Cara's cheeks are flush red, 9...10 it's all over!

Winner Lily Aldridge KO Round 8

After:
While it has been a bad night for the US team, Lily has at least given the fans something to smile about as she mounts the bottom ropes of the corner she is in, raising her arms in the air as she yells "come on!" As the fans applaud her, knowing she has at least given her all for them.

When Lily calms down from celebrating, she looks over at Cara as her fellow captain is helped over to her feet, Lily jogs over to her corner as she checks on Cara, both smiling as Cara thanks Lily checking on her, though Cara looks pained understandably as she sits on her stool with an ice pack placed on her stomach.

Lily jogging back to her corner, Claudia hugs her as she tells her "you couldn't do anything more" talking more about what happened with the team then this fight, Lily after getting her gloves taken off wipes a few tears away, she looks relieved to have won to have eased the pressure over tonights events.

Out comes the winners for the Rest of the World team as Iggy Azalea, Stella Maxwell and Saoirse Ronan step into the ring, while Iggy and Saoirse focus on their captain, Stella stares hard at Lily, maybe wanting a crack at her as Lily notices and looks at her with an expression that says "wanna try it?" Making Stella think better of it for now, instead adding to the worry of how Cara is.

After applauding the fans who turned out, Lily leaves the ring, people in the crowd telling her they love her, making her smile and thank them as she walks to the back, though the USA team committee will most likely be having an inquiry into this defeat, three years in a row they have lost this event, they won the first two International Cups but now it seems they can't buy an overall win.

While the winners themselves get the trophy handed into the ring, Iggy pours some champagne into the top of the cup, Cara saying she wants the others to have their moment, applauding them as Stella, Saoirse and Iggy get to take their turns lifting up the cup, taking a drink each from the cup with big beaming smiles on each of their faces.

Each fighter thanks Cara for bringing them together, while it's bitter sweet that she lost, Cara looks proud of her chosen team, thanking each of them for doing their work, they all embrace as the team looks strongly united, all leaving the ring together as the champagne will be flowing tonight wherever the party is being held, will next year be a fourth success for them or will the US team revamp themselves?

Team ROW 3-2 Team USA