BBU Bantamweight Title
Ch Sophia Thomalla vs Nadia Forde
(Black Eagle Boxing vs Garnet Gunners UK)
(16-0, 16 KO vs 12-4, 11 KO)
Results: BBU; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: Most pundits stopped making bets when Sophia Thomalla finally relinquishes the bantamweight title but with Ireland making a proper statement at the Rugby World Cup maybe Nadia Forde follows suit and takes down the champion as well. It remains an extremely tall order as Sophia's kickboxing background has proven to be the true X factor in the BBU ring and the German actress jokes about going for the elusive 20-for-20 mark in the foreseeable future. That would tie the all-time consecutive wins record held by Jenna Coleman since 2017 but there's little chance she overlooks the Irish challenger tonight since Nadia has all the tools to become a Top 10 pound-for-pound boxer if only her schedule was more consistent over the years.

Sophia Thomalla wears a black bikini set & golden gloves. Long light brown hair tied in a sleek ponytail. Nadia Forde wears a crimson red bikini set & silver gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a custom ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Nadia thinks she can set the early tone and drops the slugging hammer straight into the champion's face but Sophia is too experienced to get carried away like that so she weathers the storm working the counter-punching drill. She believes in her approach and lets Nadia fire the first rounds before sticking all the power on the recoil. The Irish woman survives the initial charge and only ups the attack rate hoping to unsettle the champion but she gets dragged into a phone booth tussle once Thomalla decides to match the intensity of these attacks in the final minute. Both women exchange hard leather on target and strike a confident pose when the referee eventually separates them at the bell.

Round 2:
More aggressive slugging from Forde who sticks a superior number of punches into the German's face but she can't quite shake her off into defensive stance and has to account for a nasty counter-punching response instead. Both women keep plugging hard hits before Nadia lines up a left hook on the jaw that finally appears to wobble the champion into some kind of bother. More clean shots punish Sophia who has to deke to the side but she's visibly upset about letting Nadia know what's going on. And the challenger upgrades the pounce into a swarming heat that sends Thomalla back to the ropes in a manner rarely seen in BBU ring before. The back & forth exchange raises the crowd noise and Nadia truly wants to secure the biggest upset of the season but allthough she cuts Sophia below the right eye, she can't quite send her down for the count and gets clinched into safety instead. Ugh! Nadia taunts the champion to check out the reaction and...

Round 3:
...finds out that Sophia is more than ready to operate at elite level when she drops a vicious series into the model's face to open the third round. Eagles coach Gina Wild remains quiet in the corner, one might argue Sophia could give her all the tips at this stage but the back & forth slugging continues in the ring and Forde refuses to abandon the previously successful tactics. She tries to land as many punches into Sophia's face as possible but accepts a risk of getting pounded in similar fashion... and Thomalla doesn't hold back from that route which allows her to inflict a couple of visible lumps around the Irishwoman's lips down the stretch. However there is no immediate breakthrough amid all this slugging and the round is more or less drawn according to Denise van Outen in the BBU TV booth.

Rounds 4 & 5:
Nadia maintains the slugging pace and forces the champion to apply full throttle - if the Eagles plan was to test the challenger's resistance, they probably realize Forde has all of it and then some... so it's time to hit the attrition button and there's plenty of wrath to deliver between these two! Sophia tackles Nadia to the body to stray off the predictable head-hunting chase and that's what finally catches the Irish brunette off guard. A couple of low hits still stay above the waist line before an elbow dig in the chest makes Nadia lose her patience but this is where she gets outworked by the champion. Sophia pounds away with fury and drops the model onto the ropes, Nadia tries to hang on but succumbs to the head-hunting pressure and bails out behind a tight earmuff for the first time while Thomalla duly cleans up the exposed midriff to assume the superior position. She continues to punish the challenger to the body in the sixth and has to fend off an extended clinching period but then she finally hits the haymaker in the sixth...

Round 6:
...when Nadia originally regains the slugging approach to follow through with the early success. However this time Sophia beats her for sheer wrath of the attack and slams a hard left hook square on the jaw that opens the flood gates. One can only maintain the German's pace for so long but it takes even more to hurt her outright. Nadia realizes she's getting thumped on speed dial and seeks respite in mid-distance but that only makes the German actress even more hungry to blow her away. The pounce is on and those long model legs have to get moving... Nadia avoids the initial burst, lands some response over the top but then gets locked down with more head-hunting juice and falls back on the turnbuckle where Sophia powers ahead to leave more facial lumps in the process. Ugh! Nadia barks in anger when she exchanges words with her coach during the interval as if she realizes the writing is on the wall here...

Round 7:
Nadia steps up to avoid the immediate slugging danger but still gets pounded around the area, Sophia tries her chances but high & low but can't quite blow the reeling Irishwoman cold just yet and has to fend off more cliching before Forde actually wrestles her back to the ropes and drops a low hit around the groin. One doesn't want to make the unbeaten champion angry but Nadia does a good job of locking her in the phone booth if only the judges won't give her any bonus points for that... whatever... Nadia remains upright during the round and her stalling tactics have actually made Thomalla visibly upset again! Even Denise van Outen doesn't know if that's a good or a bad sign for the challenger?

Round 8:
Sophia comes in hot and drops more head shots to open some old wounds; she forces Nadia into another back & forth exchange and the early hits prevent the clinching script so the Irish brunette has to duke it out the old way... and she drills a left hook on the nose to make the German actress bleed but then eats a looping response on the ear and wobbles forward into an uppercut blast that leaves her extremely vulnerable during the second minute. Some hard punches crash into the model's jaw and she can't apply the clinching plan anymore so Thomalla keeps on blasting away until she BREAKS THE IRISH RESISTANCE with one of these uppercuts too many. Forde gets stuffed on her heels and drops her mitts at the worst moment while the German champion SLAMS a right hook on the nose that spills more red paint but more importantly sends the challenger DOWN ONTO THE CANVAS!!! Uh-oh!!! That was a monster shot from Sophia who struts back to her corner and suddenly most of the fans realize Nadia ain't coming back from this one! She reamains down in spread eagle format on the boards and descends into a mumbling misery despite a very brave effort all around! KO8 and STILL the BBU bantamweight champion Sophia Thomalla!!!

AFTER: This was one of the toughest fights Sophia had to experience in her BBU career and even she admits she was running at 100% to maintain the unbeaten record: "Nadia is tough, very tough even... she earned her place at the big girls table but I'm still the rightful queen of the show. Let's see what happens next... maybe someone will be brave enough to issue an open challenge... I need three more wins to hit that twenty wins mark... it's not like Jenna Coleman can stop me so it's gonna be a fun few months ahead anyway!" (laughs).

Paris Hilton on X: We might pull some strings to keep the record in Lookout! house. No time for panic yet. 20>17. #RealQueensOfBoxing

Official Result: Ch Sophia Thomalla def. Nadia Forde KO8.