By the time of this bout, Principal had been bet known as one of Welch’s sparring partners, summarily dismissing by Raquel after knocking the champ down in a practice session. It was a raw version of her later boxer-puncher self that met Britt in an open air, private beach session—foreshadowing Vicki’s famous rivalry with that other nimble blonde Farrah Fawcett. Although brittle of chin and light of fist—Britt was favoured for this bout, fighting in her “Golden Gun” bikini against Victoria in her teal Coppertone ad bikini with the tie front (smooth tight ponytails for both women). The thinking was that Britt was the finished product, having fought celebrities the world over, but that Victoria, despite some promise, had few if any real contests under her belt. Privately, Britt hoped to do to Vicki, what Raquel had done to her a few years earlier.

R1: Vicki showed the tools for which she would become notorious over the net few years: a pulverizing straight left jab and a harpooneer’s right hand up the middle. Landing the right seconds into the round, Vicki banged Britt’s head straight back and put a look of shock on the blonde’s pretty face. Britt spent almost a minute running to get her legs back, then settled into a counter puncher’s posture, holding her glove low, tempting Vicki in, then coming over the top with vicious chopping rights or lefts over Principal’s extended shoulder. Midway through the round, a solid right hand jammed into Vicki’s jaw, and Britt’s eyes lit up to see Principal staggered. Ekland moved to the right, ripping that short right uppercut underneath Vicki’s left arms and clipped Principal’s pointed chin. Vicki soaked it all up however, and by the final minute, had Britt backing away from a crisp left hook to take the round.

R2,3: Britt the boxer took over, timing Victoria beautifully, always apparently hittable, but countering at the last minute to make Principal pay for her aggression. Ekland was content to stick and move—mostly move—and shoeshine her opponent’s head or chest rather than attempt to get Vicki in trouble in these rounds.

R4: Britt got bold, and engaged Victoria in a series if calculated slugfests this round. Ekland on her toes, putting compact combinations together tried to swarm Principal as Vicki counted on her heavy right hand and slicing left hook. Exciting two way action resulted as both women had their moments, but in the final minute, Victoria lead with the right, then came back with the left hook, bouncing the punch off Britt’s head and staggering the blonde once again. Ekland was hurt and clinched Vick to the bell.

R5,6: Victoria had brought out the punk in Britt with her power shots, and spent these rounds trying to bring the blonde into the fight, Principal chased Britt as the blonde skipped and bounced around the outside, clinching whenever Victoria got close enough to punch and holding and hitting whenever possible, Vicki banked those meaningless rounds on aggression alone, and ha d a decent lead going in to the 7^th round.

R7,8: Britt still on her ties began slashing in on Victoria, stepping to the left, bouncing in to flash her quick hands, then stepping away to the left to leave Principal swinging at air. Britt backhanded and slapped her jab at Victoria’s breast, then bent over into wide right hands to the side of Principal’s head, simply overwhelming the rigid brunette with the limber style. As Britt grew more confident, she grew more playful, cupping Vicki’s cheek in her left while backing up and swatting away with catspaw right hands, stepping into Principal with the shoulder to the chest, then banging away with a cheap hook to the chin. Vicki began to show signs of frustration as she clever blonde started to dictate the tempo of this fight,

R9: Britt had Victoria Principal right where she wanted her, and gave the brunette her first formal introduction to the harsh reality of celebrity boxing this round. On her toes, stepping around Vicki, Britt began with that licking, flicking jab, always keeping it in Vicki’s face or tapping her breasts, midway through the round, Britt was flashing combinations, and a brilliant three punch salvo ended with a short left hook to the jaw that left Vicki stunned, Britt poured it on, going to Vicki’s smooth face with slashing lefts and rights, twirling the punches up in semi-uppercut form as Principal staggered forward, A cut appeared on Vicki’s lower lip as Britt’s fists shredded her defense, and Ekland kept up the pressure, stepping back and ripping away in her confused opponent. By the final minute, Vicki’s eyes were closing, and she reached pathetically for Britt, who leaned in then with haymakers, planting her feet and rocking back Victoria head with flush right hands, Britt shoeshined Vicki to the gut, then crushed her chin with vicious right uppercuts, and in the final seconds, Britt held her defenseless foe by her bikini knot and plowed away with rights to the mouth at the bell. Principal was devastate, as Britt burst into a glorious smile at the wreckage she had made of Principals face.

R10: Gutsy Vicky P staggered out for this round on rubbery legs, holding her gloves stiffly un front of her face, eyes glazed—looking for all the world like a knockout waiting to happen. Ekland taunted and pecked at her foe from outside. Slapping her backhanded jab into Vicki’s glistening cheeks and whipping a meanspirited left in around Vicki’s raised elbows to make principal crige in response. All Ekland in the round, and on the cards as she cruised into the final minute, when Victoria started to punch.

Principal lashed out with that hard straight jab to get Britt’s attention, dipping left as Britt shot back a hurried right, and coming back with a crushing left hook to the chin that had Britt hurt. Panicking, Ekland, tried to clinch, but Vicki would have known of it, blasting away with fouling lefts and rights to the groin back Britt up with a groan. Swollen eyed Vicki beamed in like a laser, spearing the right hand I straight, then cranking the left hand wide, and Britt found herself backed to the ropes under fire, With seconds left in the round, Vicki P planted her feet and swung away, battering Britt Ekland with lefts and rights to the head and suddenly Ekland went limp. The referee pushed Victoria away and held Britt, preventing her from falling as the blonde stared blankly over his shoulder. Victoria came all the way back and posted one of the most exciting last minute Kos in celebrity history.

It was a victory that put Principal on the map and made her a desirable opponent for the first time, Britt would not be the last woman to taste the cold determination and heavy leather of this feisty brunette, and this loss went a long way to pushing Ekland into the second tier of celebrity fighters for the rest of her career.

Reposted by Archer 2/27/10.