PIPER PERABO VS KADEE STRICKLAND
Perabo in pale green bikini, gold-dot trim, blonde ponytail, white gloves
Kadee in white cami-strap tankini, blonde ponytail, white gloves
UD10 Kadee Strickland

Hollywood's an unfair town. Piper and Kadee are arguably prettier than Jessica Alba - both are better actresses - but it's Jessica getting the mega-stardom while Piper and Kadee can't seem to break out of the B list. This was yet another in a series of tough, short-money, get-noticed fights that have become the stock in trade for both these starlets. Fighting early in the evening, the PPV crowd still hours away from arriving en masse - these two would pound out ten excrutiating rounds, exactly a terrible toll on still young and enthusiastic bodies before a sparse collection of press, scouting-agents and hard core fans.

Both these girls have hardbitten skills earned in countless such hardscrabble encounters. They are the skills of women who can't afford to have a dull minute, let alone a dull round. They'd LIKE to get hit less, but neither can afford to be less offensive-minded for fear of being dismissed or overlooked by the glancing attention of industry scouts. And so, with the pressure of Hollywood reality bearing down on both blondes, these two tucked in with a vengeance, sparing themselves nothing, and their opponents ever less.

Hooks were dug with conviction, vigour and coldblooded malice into ribs and fighting-tuff tummies. Combinations were snapped off hard - no laziness allowed as pretty faces took tidy rights and lefts in brisk sequences. They boxed only for positional advantage - then both looked always and everywhere to step in close and punch with full-bodied leverage. Minute after minute, round after round - toned, fit blondes bumped shoulders, traded vicious punches, and refused to give ground in the kind of fighting only starving starlets can really produce.

In the tenth, Kadee hurt Piper as the two traded right hands, then batted a series of hooks upside Piper's head to get her staggering face-forward into ropes. It was the breaking point - the point at which Perabo's fighting spirit blinked, and Kadee poured through the breach to savage her foe and finally beat her down in conclusive fashion. The fight would end with Kadee squaring away and batting decisive sidearm rights and lefts at her cowering opponent, beating the stuffing out of poor Perabo who had given every bit as much as her opponent to this moment. The unforgiving round would go to Kadee, and with it the fight as both women limped out of the contest shabby with damage.

As an interesting aside - one figure you wouldn't expect to be in attendance, but who frequently catches the early undercard bouts was one Charlize Theron - sitting in white fleece sweats and zipper-front hoody over a pink tank top - her feet up on the chairs in front of her. Maybe THAT'S why Charlize holds all the records: SHE actually knows who these two are, how these two fight. If there's anything to be learned from this bout, CT's taking it in - if not - she's enjoying the contest, remembering what it used to be like when she was 'just another blonde' scrapping to get noticed.