RETRO BOUT CA.1965

Posted by Simguy on Saturday 29-May-1999 10:43:11

Before: Fought on the set of  “Bewitched”, this private affair brought together two of television’s most beloved sorceresses. No one new beforehand if Montgomery could even box, and against an established slugger like Eden, it didn’t seem a competitive bout gong in. But Montgomery was insistent that she would not only compete, but win this bout, and of the two combatants, certainly Liz took the event seriously. Montgomery in a black, turtleneck catsuit, gold chain along the hips—Eden in Genie outfit—small workout gloves.

During R1: In the cleared living room, Eden opened with a careless rush, moving forward behind a whirlwind of looping lefts and rights as Liz backed away and to the side. Montgomery held her hands high, palms out, and swatted down at Barbara with short swipes, making contact but obviously nit hurting the rugged little blonde. Whenever Eden got inside, Liz would tie her up, and even deliberately take her down, and the two would grapple on the carpet until someone broke them up. It was very frustrating to Barbara to be handled in this fashion, and the boxing match quickly bogged down into a series of clinches in Liz’s favour.

R2: Liz took the second round with more of her unorthodox tactics—circling and slapping at Barbara from the outside, then all but bulldogging the blonde to the carpet whenever Eden exerted the slightest pressure. Barbara complained bitterly this round, but the only scoring blows landed came from Montgomery.

R3: Barbara showed a little tactical acumen this round, bodying up and walking Liz into the kitchen, where the hard edges and floor mitigated against Montgomery’s tackling. Forced to fight, Liz stood toe to toe, her cheek on Barbara’s forehead as Eden put her punches together downstairs. Barbara would push Liz’s back hard into the edge of the counter, slug at the waistline indiscriminately, and use her head to butt Montgomery back for punching room. Gritty round for Eden as Liz staggered away at the bell with a look of sunstroke on her face.

R4: Liz anticipated Barbara’s bold straight in rush, and lifted Eden onto her toes with a well timed lead uppercut. Stunned, Barbara could only cover up and try to get it together as Montgomery swatted her with a bath of pawing punches. Eden would recover and begin to touch Montgomery’s ribs in the final minute, but another round had slipped away from Genie.

R5: All Barbara Eden as she bulled Liz back into the kitchen and proceeded to give Montgomery a one-sided beating. Liz could only hunch forward behind her gloves and soak it up as Barbara launched her famous two fist assault, batting up and down Montgomery’s sides with constant pressure. Eden dug her face in between Liz’s gloves and jerked hard uppercuts into the body of Montgomery, then stepped back to loop haymakers at Liz’s well protected head. Liz had no answer, and seemed relieved as the bell sounded to a squeal of delight from the exited Eden.

R6: Liz continued to be discouraged this round, landing some don’t-hurt-me punches, but staying defensive for most of the round. Eden continued with her close attack, wearing Liz down.

R7: Montgomery clawed her way back into the fight with more clinching, holding and hitting, and some lateral movement, as in once again Eden found herself reacting rather than taking the initiative.

R8: Another Montgomery round she continued t push and swat at Barbara from the outside, cuddle Eden on the inside, and foul her opportunistically whenever possible. Eden almost evened the score with a vicious left hook to the liver in the final minute, buckling Montgomery’s legs, but Liz with the occasional counter, looked to be saving herself for the final round.

R10: Liz came out with her best overall round, using a sneaky lead right to the face of Eden to disrupt the blonde’s rushes. Liz swatting and poking from the outside managed to control the round, never hurting Barbara, but doing enough to dictate the action. Although the round ended with eden getting inside and doing damage, the tenth, and the fight, would go to Montgomery on all cards. Liz broke into a catty smile on set as she walked the room with raised fists, while a stunned Barbara Eden could only look on in disgust.

After: One of the biggest disappointments of Barbara’s fighting career as the clever and unorthodox Liz literally bewitched the judges on this night. An exceedingly difficult fight to score, could have gone Eden’s way in power punching alone, but it was a close contest none the less.

Reposted by Archer 2/27/10. (Special thanks to FightFan for this fight)