Ivana Baquero vs Jade Thirlwall
(Girls Friday vs Frankie's Foxes)
(24-5, 23 KO vs 8-7, 8 KO)
Results: BBU; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: This is a battle between divisional royalty however most experts still think Jade Thirlwall remains underrated among the fellow flyweights and hasn't truly made the most of her potential. One can argue she's guilty of fighting too demanding schedule but on the other hand she seemingly lost all the "money" fights against the likes of Cheryl Cole, Diana Korkunova or Ewelina Lisowska.

Over in the red corner we have Ivana Baquero who comes off a fifth round stoppage of the always dangerous Jade Ewen and claims to be in top championship shape hoping to cause more uproar within the divisional elite: "I'm gonna take them down one by one. Jade usually gets the favorable press but overall those Little Mix tarts are fairly weak. If Jade is the best thet've got I have nothing worry about!" (winks).

Ivana Baquero wears a red bikini set & yellow gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a braid. Jade Thirlwall wears a black bikini set & silver gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a high ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the flyweight division.

Round 1:
Both women channel the early slugging route and land several clean hits up the middle but it takes more than that to assume even a slight advantage yet the high-octane action gives the crowd something to cheer for alright. Ivana glues her mitts into the singer's face with a better efficiency but then shoots over her shoulder and wobbles into a quick uppercut response that allows Jade to pull back on the artistic impression value and beyond. She lands more vicious hits from point-blank range and rides the slugging wave to the point Baquero starts to feel the heat as her head snaps back repeatedly in the process. There's no overhand response from the Spanish actress who has to yield real estate down the stretch which probably gives the round to the Little Mix spinner but it's a close one.

Round 2:
More slugging heroics in the second, Ivana carries the early success and thumps Jade from both flanks but she's unable to break her down and has to embrace a stubborn response up the middle which allows the Geordie singer to rattle the Spanish foe with impressive precision. Maybe Jade throws less punches here but she lands them with better value and leaves Baquero barking in anger when a small cut appears across the nasal ridge. The head-hunting pounce continues to please the audience until Ivana finally stops the singer's charge and drops a sudden uppercut drive on the chest to wobble Thirlwall off her comfort zone. She follows throigh with more head shots and sends the singer reeling but Jade escapes a designated trap along the ropes and still taunts the Girls Friday entourage after the bell.

Rounds 3 & 4:
More composed striking during the next six minutes as Jade continues to chase the head-hunting success while Ivana gets stuck with the body assault promise that actually hampers her execution. She bounces off the singer's forearms too often to hurt her and eats too many quick overhands instead. Jade fends off the midsection heat and profits from Ivana's tactical mistake(?) to snap her head back and open another cut below the left eye. Ugh! Girls Friday coach Ming-Na Wen looks visibly upset in the corner but the reality is that Jade simply knocks the Spanish contender around while showing no signs of battle damage and even BBU TV's Denise van Outen realizes the body attacks make no difference here and Baquero should go back to the slugging plan that worked for her before. Some angry words are exchanged in the Girls Friday corner during the interval and...

Round 5:
...Ivana springs into immediate slugging action to open the fifth where she nails Jade upstairs again and flushes her out of the zone wholsale. Jade prefers to see out the storm and limit the damage; she's got the required footwork to do so and she leaves the Spanish woman slicing thin air more often then not before Ivana runs out of gas. Ugh! She still wants to pile more leather into Jade's face but the legs get left behind and the Geordie singer loops a counter-punching response to indicate she hasn't checked out of the aggressive game yet. Ivana's high guard leaks enough of these blows to leave her glued to the center of the ring before Thirlwall cracks a huge harpoon on the liver to sink the younger brunette into genuine spasms right at the bell.

Round 6:
Jade comes in hot and BLOWS Ivana's high-guard aside seconds into the sixth before picking another slugging rally up the middle to connect with the younger brunette's jaw. Ivana tries to stay in the exchange but takes a couple of these vicious hits square on and wobbles to the side before a booming right hand nails her on the nose and spills some red paint! Uh-oh! Baquero tries to swing from the back foot instead of seeking respite and misses with the effort only for Thirlwall to SMOKE her with another brutal right on the nose. Uh-oh!! DOWN GOES IVANA crashing onto her backside amid a loud roar from the audience. Jade quickly struts back to her corner and it takes a few seconds before Ivana realizes there's more blood pouring from her nose as she tries to embrace reality. She gets up at eight but doesn't get a medical break here so Jade simply resumes the pounding and spills more blood while the Spanish actress tries to clinch her into safety. She fails in her effort and gets blasted back to the ropes where the Geordie singer keeps landing more vicious shots into Baquero's face until the REF STEPS IN to halt the contest! How about this fight then? TKO6 Jade Thirlwall!!!

AFTER: Huge win for the South Shields native who leaves the former flyweight champion battered and bloodied for a good measure. Even the Girls Friday entourage remains stunned as Jade parades around the ring and blows kisses to the crowd. It's still anyone's guess if she can win the divisional straps outright but most experts thought that Jorgie Porter "could never" and that proved to be a wrong take so there's every hope the Little Mix brand will finally rise to the challenge when it matters the most. Even Jade's manager Frankie Cocozza can't screw this up for once since the Foxes' flamboyant management style was usually blamed for the stable's mixed results over the years. Watch this space!

Official Result: Jade Thirlwall def. Ivana Baquero TKO6.