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12 August 2022 Hilary Rhoda vs Alice Sabatini

Page history last edited by neon 2 weeks, 4 days ago

Fight Night Live: Rio Rumble PPV

Posted by girlsfriday on 11 August 2022 at 5:23 pm

Tale of the Tape:
Hilary Rhoda:
Age: 35
Height: 5'11
W/L: 47-17 (47KOs)
Former FCBA welterweight champion.
Vs
Alice Sabatini:
Age: 25
Height: 5'10
W/L: 13-5 (13KOs)

(Girls Friday vs Italians Boxing Better)

(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

Intro:
Next up two welterweights wanting to be seen in the title picture conversation, American Hilary Rhoda and Italy's Alice Sabatini fight it out for the first time, Brazil's world famous Copacabana Beach is the sight of this clash, who will be the one getting their arm raised in victory?

Heading into the contest, both women were interviewed in their hotel rooms the night before the fight, Hilary welcomed the FCBA Network interviewer Alicia Atout into her room, Hilary is wearing a white T-shirt with black joggers on, not looking like she was expecting guests.

The Sports Illustrated Alumni is asked for her thoughts on this contest, Hilary tells Alicia "I am excited for this fight, honestly this is the most excited I have been to fight someone new since I fought my friend Hannah (Ferguson) all those years ago, Alice has risen up the rankings so quickly, I mean to be in a title eliminator after sixteen fights is amazing, I respect that a lot" smiling as she stands near her bed.

Alicia then asks what is it that Hilary thinks makes Alice so good, Hilary thinks for a few moments, answering "I think it's the fact she is willing to take a punch to land one, some fighters never learn to get over that, Alice from day one has been happy to get rough when needed, I respect that but you know I am expecting to win right" laughing as Alicia nods with a smile, then Hilary says she wants an early night, Alicia takes that as her cue and leaves the room.

When Alicia is at Alice's door, whether Alice's manager expected it or simply was leaving their room, they stop Alicia knocking and tell her that Alice isn't available for interviews now, waving over the interviewer so they can give her a few words about the bout.

"Alice is prepared to do us proud come the fight, while we'd love her to be fighting the champion Brooklyn, we know that isn't possible right now, so it is all about putting in the hard work for her, that's all that matters" says the manager, keeping their message short but clear that this is about building Alice into a champion.

Fighting time, there are two bleachers each side of the ring, the cameras catching the beautiful waters as the judges tables is on the tide side of the ring, the ring posts have been set into the beach, ready for the fighters to step into.

Onto the beach comes Hilary with her coach Rebecca Romjin, Hilary gives the crowd a wave before she climbs into the ring, wearing a violet bikini with white gloves, hair tied into a braid as she stretches to keep loose as she awaits her opponent, Rebecca telling her to show Alice how a champion fights.

Alice is on the beach now with her coach, some swagger to her step as she has an aura of confidence around her, she steps into the ring wearing a light blue bikini with white gloves, nodding to her coach before she goes through her warm up routine.

Referee waves the fighters to the center of the ring, where they look each other over, gauging for an weak point but seeing a toned rival in front of them, they respectfully touch gloves before returning to their corners, the referee then signals for the bell to ring, starting 10 rounds of welterweight action.

Round 1:
Stepping out their corners with eyes locked behind their gloves, they test each other with jabs, Alice using feints too as she moves her head more of the pair, then both step in with a straight that lands to the others face, getting knocked back a step as their heads rear back, getting a taste of their opponent's power there.

Things start to heat up at the two minute mark as both start to land more, a double jab lands on the lips of Hilary, who just misses with a left cross, instead she eats a counter right onto her chin as Alice shows her quickness, for a welterweight the Italian has the grace of a lightweight, still she has power behind her punches as she works back Hilary to the outside part of the ring with more clean shots to the face.

After a strong second minute, Alice is showing her ability to control a fighter, mixing up her targets as well as dodging the heavier punches coming her way, Alice is holding the middle of the ring as Hilary doesn't look to have worked out her younger foe yet, only really landing jabs and straights in return, at the end of the round, Alice doesn't celebrate her success, just returns to her stool with a icy stare on her opponent as she sits down, Hilary meanwhile nods to her corner, knowing it wasn't exactly a round to hang her hat on by any stretch.

Round 2:
Trading more punches as they resume, again though Alice looks to have warmed up better here as she dips under a straight, banging in a right to the abs of Hilary, just missing with an overhand left as Hilary got her head out the way in time, it isn't long later that Rhoda is back around the outside part of the ring wondering how to put this energetic young woman under her thumb.

Instead it's Sabatini showing her claws as she digs in a left/right hook to the body, Hilary needing to give her a shove to create space, landing a double jab, still Alice is landing the heavier leather as she even bashes in a left cross to the breasts of Hilary, happily whacking any part of the former champion to break her down.

Final forty five seconds to go, Hilary finally gets a solid shot to push back Alice when she lands a left cross around her ear, followed by a straight into her forehead, pressing in closer to Alice, they trade on the inside with short digging punches, hissing and barking in effort as this looks a war of attrition to see whose stronger, the round comes to a close with both turning on their heels to return to their stools, Alice has certainly come here for the win off these opening rounds.

Round 3:
At the bell they come to the center again to trade, Hilary aiming more around the chest of Alice, maybe trying to throw her off her game, Alice gritting her mouthpiece, firing back with straight punches into the face of Hilary to make her regret her tactic change, another solid start for Sabatini to make the Girls Friday corner look to be sweating.

Things change when Alice misses with a right cross as Hilary moves back, then buries in a counter jab into the nose of Alice, a straight follows to knock back the Italian fighter, Hilary holding more of the middle now as she has Alice moving around the ring, landing more as she looks more confident, cracks of leather ringing out as they exchange stiff punches when they set their feet.

Another missed right cross leads to Alice taking a counter right onto her lips, then a left cross on her cheek as Hilary starts to press forwards, Alice covering up more tightly as really for the first time in the fight she is under pressure, getting her abs tested when she gets too close to the ropes to retreat anywhere, firing back till the bell rings moments later, a little hint of emotion from Alice as she shuts her eyes for a moment with a tense jaw, fighting cursing herself it seems, Hilary meanwhile sits back on her own stool with a smile, maybe feeling she has cracked the Sabatini code.

Round 4:
The punches are definitely flying thick and fast now as both look fired up to the task, Alice lands a short left hook to the body of Hilary, she is met by a right hook on her ear as the intensity looks to have went up a notch, both separate and stare hard at their opponent while circling.

Hilary deflects a jab with her right glove, landing a short jab into the lips of her opponent, she follows with a right cross under the eye of Alice to make her cry out, backing off from Hilary as the former champion has found another gear, bullying back Alice with a flush jab/straight through her mitts to her face to send a little sweat flying.

Alice looks a little befuddled after such a strong start, now being herded around the ring by the veteran, who is landing some hooks behind her jab, mixing up where she is aiming them, Alice getting sick of this comes roaring back with her own hooks, girls going toe to toe as the fans roar them on, the rounds comes to an end with Alice swearing at Hilary with her native tongue, Hilary maybe not knowing the exact phrase, can see by Alice's expression it wasn't friendly, making her grin as she knows she is getting under the younger woman's skin.

Round 5:
It looks like Alice has cooled off as she nods to her coach, both are giving the other a feel of their power now as they plant their feet and swing in their punches, almost becoming a test of toughness as one lands a hard punch, then the other swings back, Hilary maybe getting to see first hand what she spoke about Alice, her willingness to take a punch to land one as both fighters bust the others bottom lip.

Ducking under a left cross, Alice bangs in two short hooks to the body of Hilary, then tries to muscle her to the ropes, they end up tied up for really the first time in the bout, a few insults being exchanged before they are broken up, with an energized Sabatini the first off the mark to rifle in a jab into the body lips of Rhoda, followed by a right hook to her jaw.

Hilary boxing more defensively as she has Alice coming after her, she isn't being totally overwhelmed as she lances her punches into the cut lip of the Italian beauty to slow her down, the greater work rate is coming from Alice, who soon pins Hilary against a corner, swinging away but maybe not picking the best selection of punches as Hilary blocks a good amount of them till the round ends, Alice jogging to her corner not bothering to sit as her coach wipes her down, Hilary waves her stool away too, standing to show Alice she isn't badly hurt as both stare hard across the ring knowing they are in a tough fight.

Round 6:
At the ding of the bell they come back together, Alice giving Hilary a double jab to her bloody lips right away, her right cross doesn't land flush as she rears back too much, allowing Hilary to block it and step in with an uppercut to knock back Alice to her heels, crowd loving this as they cheer the warriors on, thuds heard as they trade.

Maybe Hilary is using Alice's emotions against her as she gives her a shove to the chest, waving Alice to bring it on, the younger woman swings in a right hook that finds air, Hilary instead leans out the way, then lands a left hook on the ear of Sabatini, followed by an uppercut that rocks Alice to her heels, the veteran not wasting time as she rams in another two straight punches to the face of Alice, who desperately clinches up as Hilary snarls "weak bytch" into the right ear of Sabatini.

Broken up with Alice looking furious, she is getting caught as she tries to even the score, a right hook to the jaw of Alice makes her stumble to her right, kicking up sand as Hilary has laser like focus, hammering back her opponent into a corner, where Alice tries covering up, punches are slicing through her guard, the round comes to a close with the IBB corner looking relieved they can work on Alice, Hilary meanwhile sits down nodding to Rebecca.

Round 7:
While Alice is out her corner, she is looking sore as she hasn't the pep to her step, Hilary doesn't rush in as she knows Alice still has a solid punch to unleash, instead feinting and landing solid digs of her own through the guard of Sabatini, who growls out and swings in an uppercut, NOTHING BUT THIN AIR FOR THAT SHOT! INSTEAD A COUNTER LEFT THEN A RIGHT HOOK LANDS ON THE CHIN OF THE UNBALANCED ALICE! DOWN SHE CRUMBLES TO THE SAND FACE FIRST;

Hilary walks to the neutral corner taking a breath as sweat drips off her body, 1....2....3... Alice groaning but isn't moving, 4...5...6.... Finally turning her head to the right side, 7....8... But it looks like Alice is too out of it to move further, 9...10 that's it for this fight!

Winner Hilary Rhoda KO Round 7

After:
Hilary raises her arms in the air with a beaming smile after spitting her gumshield into her right glove, this was a hard fought victory for her, getting the fight she clearly wanted from the younger woman, though Rebecca loves relieved as her fighter walks back to her corner, reminding her that starting a fight the way she did here isn't exactly advised, making Hilary chuckle and nod.

On the other side of this equation, Alice has to be checked over by the ringside doctor and her coach, they slowly help her to her stool as she blinks to clear her vision, she tells them she will be OK as she still looks angry at what happened, looking at the sand as she spits out her mouthpiece in disgust.

Soon enough Alice is helped up to her feet after being wiped down, led out the ring by a medic so she can be checked over in the medical tent, Hilary makes sure to jog over to the Italian Boxing Better coach to tell them Alice will be a champion, while they don't exactly look pleased with Hilary, they do nod their thanks for her kind words before they leave the ring, this fight showed the potential Alice has to be one of the best in the division, it also showed the things she needs to work on if she is to fulfil that goal.

Over to the middle of the ring comes Hilary, she gets her left arm raised in victory, bouncing on her toes moments later shadow boxing to show she has more in the tank, a wink to the camera before she heads out the ring with her corner crew.

This was a great win for Hilary as she holds off one of the next generation that already seems to be challenging the one she came through with, the welterweight division is growing quickly and with more top fighters emerging, more top fights will take place.