Posted by simguy on 10/22/2004

Before: Richards enjoying some newfound notoriety as a "Brit Killer" - thumping KO of Catherine Zeta Jones makes Denise the toast of the town. "It was a good win for her," admits Brook in prefight, "but let's take it for what it was. Catherine has a habit of fighting down to the level of her competition, yeh? Jones is a good fighter, but she doesn't have the big weapon to get a determined girl off her and that's where Denise will go wrong in our fight. If she tries to rush me as she did Jones, she'll get 'urt. I'm not saying I'll stop her, but she can't hope to attack my body the way she did Cathy's." Denise in green bikini, bra strap style - Kelly in neon blue bikini, low ponytail.

During R1: Girls meet midring - right away it's a dangerous contest. Both setting up in power punching range - dukes are high, but both are opening up, letting hands go - plenty of chin on show as girls trade lefts and rights. Brook doing well she takes a moment to sort Denise out the jab before laying on the strap. Denise having the best of it with a meanspirited shoving right to the body - stepping right, giving it to Kelly hard to the belly, prompting Brook clinches. Sturdy two way - round to Denise.

R2: Brook keeping her elbows in, blocking body shots and answering to Denise's face. Brook's jab solid, spanking up the middle - D right there for it. Brook gets a jarring right to the point of Richards' chin at the end of the first minute - D put wobbly butt, stutter stepping as she covers up to ride out the shock. Kelly stalking rest of the way, finding Richards the jab, pounding away righty up top as Richards wilts in retreat.

R3: More one-sided Brook action - she's establishing the jab strong in the opening moments of each round, getting Denise moving backward, then walking the American down. Kelly keeping her elbows in, anticipating the Richards body attack - Brook punching off the block very effectively. Methodical work - Brook systematically banging away, action interrupted as Denise slides her arms around Kelly's waist and holds for breaks. Workmanlike shutout, Brook.

R4: Crunching two way punching - sort of a poor man's Ryan/Scott. Kelly's eyes wide as saucers as she jabs, looks for openings, leans into the right hand, then comes back the hook as she reloads weight onto her back foot. Denise doing much the same thing, headhunting with the right, body-checking with the left, swaying in and out on sturdily planted legs. Girls right in front of each other, gentle clockwise rotation but basically, both girls want to stroke rhythmically at each other.

R5: Continuation of the fourth - hamfisted, back and forth trade ends when Brook doubles up on the jab, drops a right hand in over Denise's left and stuns the American beauty once again. D hopping away hurt, hands at her temples, teeth clenched - Brook wades in with a swinging right uppercut that sends Denise ramshackle to the ropes. Kelly squares away - D earmuffs up - it's Brook on Richards hard to the bell. Kelly working it like it's a gym session, starting each session with gloves at her eyebrows, dipping side to side to bat Richards' body like she's a pinata, then propping her back with a brawny left forearm. Brook looking for right uppercuts whenever D leans forward - nothing back from American as she rides it out gutty.

R6: OH they bang away! Tense to watch as girls are all squared away midring, turning on big rights and robust lefts and BOTH are landing savage. Brunette legs holding firm, both girls stroking chin either hand. Richards more insistent to the body, leaning in close with that shovel-pump right hand to the breadbasket, but Kelly maintaining distance with a bashing left jab.

R7: Clanging two-way continues - girls willing to take a shot in order to give one. Crowd oohing and aahing as both women have juicy moments, but both proving hardy - good walloping shots aren't moving stubborn legs as girls stand and deliver. Fighters fall in to each other on occasion, but a moment's wrestling quickly gives way to short-arm hooking on the inside, gradually extending back to power-punching range.

R8: Denise slips a Brook right hand, comes back a slobberknocking hook and THERE GOES BROOK'S LEGS! Kelly rocked for the first time tonight, staring in disbelief as she clatters back into the ropes - ON COMES DENISE! Richard pushing her head between Kelly's mitts and RAMPAGING to waist both hands. Brook groaning, trying to pull down on Denise's head - Richards answers a vicious right uppercut to drape Brook back and D GOES JUG! Monster rack attack as Richards bares her teeth and gets ALL up in there - Kelly's composure cracking, blubbering as she drapes arms around Denise to restrain her. D won't have it - crouching, keeping her hands free, rotating her shoulders - she goes back to the breadbasket to sit Brook woozy in the ropes. BACK TO THAT RACK! Kelly can't defend herself any more - she's just sick as Denise romps away to jug, hungrily taking all on show there. Big bell to bell stomp from Denise - she's hauled off a trembling Kelly - Richards showing real fire in the 8th.

R9: Denise still pumped - she's the more energetic beauty, taking it to Kelly, backing her up. Brook concerned, lumping up - she's not comfortable fighting in reverse, trying to re-assert her jab to no avail. Richards loosening up, swinging wide rights to the gut, coming back hooks to jaw - she's starting to buffet Kelly off balance, walking Brook down as she staggers.

R10: Kelly regroups - starts spearing the jab again, pushing off her right big toe for Denise-stopping leverage. Richards forced to cover up and hang back - now it's Brook stepping forward, imposing her will. Nothing fancy, Brook just inching forward, swinging hard to either flank, tracking Richards down the jab as D winces away. Kelly really working hard for a big woman, constantly punching - not particularly quick mitted, but she's putting a nice throbbing, numbing beatdown on Richards. D takes it a like a woman, but can't answer back - lack of effort in the tenth of a close fight proves disastrous. Comes back UD10 by a single point, Kelly Brook.

After: Both women exhausted - Brook wearily exhilarated as her hand is raised - Denise all used up, staring blankly with no reaction to the announcement. Just a grand 10 round dust-up - neither woman a cutey, both there for the other's punching - as honest a contest as you could want. Brook sorting Denise out with the jab as opposed to the big right hand - critical tool for keeping Richards away from tender British midsection. "I jabbed her senseless tonight," bubbles Brook in postfight, "too right I did! We knew she wanted my body, and she's a walk-in girl, so the jab was critical to pushing her back and wearing her down. She's a strong girl, but we kept at her, yeh? Make no mistake - I gave Denise Richards a proper beating tonight." British papers agree - Sun headlines proclaiming "WELL DONE, KELLY!" in acknowledgment of Brook's stateside success.