Posted by simguy on 10/29/2004

Before: Premium match up at 110 - both girls title contenders, seemingly with a lot to lose in this confrontation. Questions abound concerning the focus of each girl - critics contending Hewitt's all about Salma, Gellar still obsessing about Portman - girls answer the charges in prefight. "I'm SO past Natalie," argues Sarah. "I'm going to have my hands full with Jennifer and I don't want to be distracted. The only thing on my mind concerning Portman is that she's probably going to get beat by Claire, so I have a chance to pass her by getting Hewitt out of the way. This is an important card for flyweights - the field's opening up and I'm gonna scoot right on through to the front!" Hewitt on Hayek: "Sarah's my opponent, Sarah's who I've trained for - I've ate, slept and dreamed Sarah for six weeks now. Thing is, I want the title shot and I want to take it from Salma, but honestly? If I can't beat Sarah? I'm probably not ready." Confident beauties - Hewitt in lucky white string bikini, Sarah in black bikini, twist tie top, short ponytail.

During R1: Jenny strokes Sarah a caressing right along the jaw, strokes her a left - Gellar shook, stumbling forward - Hewitt's able to walk her in to a greasy shellacking of lefts and rights and GELLAR GOES DOWN! Big smile Hewitt, arms raised, neutral-corner strut as SMG scrambles up all buzzed, wide eyed. Jen jabbing, wary of the counter, fixing Sarah's position at the ropes, then LABELING blondie more right hands! Gellar stooped forward, hurt all the way to her toes, hands're low - she's dazed and JENNY GOES ALL IN! Hewitt squaring up wide, stroking lefts, lathering rights - elbows in, twisting her hips in side to side slash - Gellar's head bunted around like a cheap tether ball and SARAH GOES DOWN! Gellar sobbing on all fours, destitute - Hewitt preening, clowning: she straddles Sarah, hands on hips, grinning as poor Gellar mewls, trembles on hands and knees below. Ref ushers Hewitt off, delaying the count - still time left as Jen wades back in after 8. Gellar face in gloves, slumping into the ropes - Hewitt simply lathering away, fists bouncing off skull, shoulders, digging in jagged behind arms and SARAH GOES DOWN! Gellar turning to her right and drifting to all fours again, mouth open, belly panting in and out - Hewitt bows deeply to crowd with grand flourish. Gellar makes it out of the round, but it's unmitigated disaster - little blonde trembling, panicked as she gets worked on during the break.

R2: Sarah shaky-legged off her stool - that whole 'boxing' gameplan just went up in smoke. Hewitt stomping in like she weighs 150 - no respect as she bodies Sarah to ropes and goes to town. Jen big n' brawny, hands low as she twists and pulls left and rights into Sarah's quivering midriff, lashing the punches from the hips. Curling slobberknockers upside Gellar's flanks, tuff shoulder shoves to sit Sarah in the ropes where her underrated jugs get a tasty pasting. Hewitt going at Sarah pretty - straight back, chin up, hands low for slinging leverage - she's just having fun in there. HEWITT GOES DOWN! Gellar getting herself together in the pocket, covering up, turning with punches, blocking punches - single chopping right timed between Jen's slugging drops brunette to buttocks in a heartbeat. Smiling, exultant Hewitt replaced by trembling, astonished Hewitt and ON COMES SARAH! Gellar releasing the hounds, tears into Jen at the ropes and SARAH GOES RACK! Hewitt shutting her eyes ostrich-like, hoping it'll all go away as she sags into the ropes, Sarah helping herself to every last bit of jug at the bell. SARAH'S STILL PUNCHING! Blonde baring her teeth, slender limbs chugging - ref bundles perky punching fly away as Hewitt hugs tender torso.

R3: Midring slugging, both girls stiff legged, dealing with hurt, both more wide-open than they'd like to be, taking chances to try and end this thing before it gets any crazier. Minute mark - exchange of hooks goes Sarah's way - Jennifer clattering away with a boozy "How could you?" look - deep breath Gellar as she wades on in. Hewitt: seated in ropes, head/torso drooping forward, hands up loose. Gellar: planting her feet, stabilizing with a left at Jen's chest, looping the right over and over to the ear until Hewitt wilts, then bodying-on to stuff Jen upright. Heartbreaking stuff for JLH fans - Sarah stroking, Sarah lathering, eyes hard with hate as she POURS leather to Jennifer - but Hewitt won't drop. Jenny Love shipping shellack, head torquing side to side - eyes are glassy, staring - mouth open, but she's hanging in there, gutting it out to the bell. Cheap late right hand from Gellar more frustration than anything else: her little arms are HUMMING from the effort of drubbing Jen.

R4: What happened to the class? Shopworn beauties stumble flatfooted to midring, hands at chest height - they reach with lefts and fall in together - hair matted down, mouths open, eyelashes fluttering with exhaustion as they hunker down to work. Jennifer the boss, keeping her cheek on Sarah and just touching her - thumping right hand in the body, squelching left, tired right uppercut, clubbing hook on cheek. Gellar just crowding, keeping her head close - she's getting tagged and worked over, but Jen's not extending on the punches, Hewitt just mindlessly bludgeoning as girls rotate clockwise, midring, in constant contact. Shutout JLH. Bell: girls hands drop immediately, mouths open, soul searching glares all around as eyes seek signs of quit in the other.

R5: Girls stumble into each other midring, shoulder bumping, tired nudged with the skull, sloppy haymakers from the hips as sluggers get wide and GELLAR GOES DOWN! Rude trade in sweeping lefts and rights sees a Hewitt left stroke Gellar's chin - Sarah laid out on her back as crowd roars to it's feet - it's GOTTA be over! But NO - Sarah blubbering, struggling to get off her back SOMEHOW finds the resolve - Jenny taking deep breaths in neutral corner wades back in determined to end this thing. Oh, the slugging. Hewitt falls in with her head - bad head butt below Sarah's left eye - brunette taking advantage with a plugging burst of lefts and rights to the body, and it must be said: trunks. Gellar groaning, reaching for Hewitt's shoulders, tieing up behind the elbows, then LIGHTING Jen up greasy little uppercut - Sarah so dangerous off those ropes. Tidy backsides all a-quiver as chins and bodies get checked. Gellar pays Jen back to the trunks at the bell - ref steps in with a stern finger-waggle in both agonized faces.

R6: During the break, Jennifer almost breaks into tears when they tell her it's only the sixth round! Girls fall in, Sarah bumps Jen off a shoulder, strokes her a hook, leans in with a slinging right - Hewitt carved along her jawlines starts staggering early. Jennifer reeling, trying to lean forward and wrap up - Gellar with a gorgeous rising left to the ribs paralyzes Hewitt, right uppercut sweeps mouthpiece out of an open mouth and a gutting left shoves hard to solar plexus to PUT JENNIFER DOWN! Hewitt on her haunches, hands out in front on the canvas - she's gasping for breath - sobbing for it - face stretched taut with gut-shock. Gellar wobbly-butt to neutral corner, mouthing "stay down" with wet lips. Jenny beats the count, swaying badly on the spot - Sarah breathes deep wades on in. Once again, one battler tries to finish the other as Gellar storms the gates - Hewitt nerveless from the hips down, just dug in, but slugging with stupid hate. Wet bodies falling in together, slender limbs pushing and writhing for room, tired, desperate punching as faces are clipped and clouting, Hewitt's hooters roasted, Gellar's chin tagged hooks as brawl steams on past the bell. Upon separation, both girls look ready to keel over - eyes staring, feet stumbling.

R7: They have no choice: legs're shot, they need to fall in together just for mutual support. Sweaty bump n' punch - girls slugging at half their normal tempo, but still timing each other. Midway through, Gellar slops a hook to Jen's body as Jen clouts chin a hook - both stagger, but Gellar reloads, lifts her hook to Jen's head and HEWITT SPRAWLS! Jen starfished on her back, chest shuddering with tears as she tries to shake off the KO - Gellar wobbling to the neutral corner, eyes pleading with Hewitt to quit and HEWITT GETS UP! Crowd on it's feet as Jen reels ropeside, begging ref to let it go on. Gellar wipes lips with sweaty forearm and wades on in. Sarah ruthless as she presses up on Jen, riding left forearm on Hewitt to stabilize, scraping her right crude right uppercuts in close - blonde taking jug in the most brutal, forthright fashion possible. Jen just sick about it, lips blubbering, but she can't stop it - Sarah methodically just working jug a plugging right hand, crowding in close with her body as she delivers. Good ploy - psychological damage piling up along with physical ruin - it's just a matter of attrition at this point and Sarah looks the fresher of two broke-down, battered beauties.

R8: Both girls take a round off - who can blame them? Leaning in, sweat-soaked heads snuggling in, eyes closed, mouths open - girls just try to walk each other around. Gellar packing little body shots - no backswing, just wedging tuff lefts and rights in tidy. Hewitt slopping at Gellar's flanks, then drowsily headlocking or wrapping up. Staggering wander, girls lolling in each other's arms, each trying to suck it up for the championship rounds.

R9: Similar tired, waltzing stuff. Jennifer slightly busier now - wrapping up with her left around Sarah's shoulders to anchor her for plugging rights to the body - Gellar reaching snug around Hewitt's hips to walk her greasy to the ropes. Constant tousle rubbing as girls rub heads, draw their faces wet across throbbing chests - weary pushing and shoving as much as punching this round.

R10: Return to ruinous, kamikaze slugging. Jen starts it with a lugging right to breadbasket, wide stroking left across the jaw - she's got Sarah backpedaling, staring into abuse. Gellar rallies off the ropes, tucking in tight left and right uppercuts to the belly, backing Hewitt up and JEN'S BACK FOOT SLIPS - Hewitt all staggery and shabby again, eyes pleading as Gellar steps up the attack. Sarah arching her back, twisting her hips, coaxing leverage out of her little body as she bludgeons away wide - Hewitt hunching forward behind her gloves trying to ride it out. Suddenly: Hewitt bobs, hooks and DOWN GOES GELLAR! Sarah's own left sails as she corkscrews, sprawls on her back - she's a sick parody of the woman who began this fight as she painfully tries to peel sweaty back off tacky canvas. SARAH BEATS THE COUNT! Hewitt hollow-eyed from the neutral corner - she can't believe it - JENNIFER WADES INTO SARAH! Hewitt bawling freely as she slugs, head down, arms flailing - she's lifting rights into Sarah's midriff, clanging away lefts up top, wrapping punches around Sarah, bashing stupid at whatever's left. Gellar dreamy, face in her gloves as she turns sideways, just sopping up punches and GELLAR GOES DOWN! Sarah sliding down and across the ropes as Hewitt punches bounce off - Gellar landing chest-first, hands still at her face, parallel to the ropes and it's OVER! Good Lord - KO10 in the last minute Jennifer Love Hewitt!

After: Hewitt collapsing, body wracked by sobs of relief and agony. Gellar all sleepy and tender, gently coaxed to her back - KO as much oxygen debt as anything else - she's simply all used up. After 5 they were calling it the greatest flyweight fight ever - after 10 it's one of the best period. Difference might have been Hewitt's legs: she bore up a little better than Gellar did under the pounding, not going down as frequently - probably would have given her the decision had it gone the route. Judges thanking God Jen got the stop: most complicated cards in history would have been a nightmare to tabulate. Fight so savage, so draining - both girls have to be considered winners, but both could be haunted by this fight for the rest of their careers. "This is the sort of fight you never recover from," warns one old coot from Celebrity Ring. "These girls punched each other rotten tonight - you gotta wonder what's left? Have Famke Janssen and Pita Wilson ever recovered from their brawls? You don't just bounce out of bed the next day after absorbing this kind of punishment." Amen!