Originally posted by Simguy on 7/9/2004, 9:52 pm/

Before: “I’m as curious about Kate as everyone else is,” admits Jennifer in prefight. “Anytime you get someone as attractive as Kate, who can fight a little bit, people love to speculate on how far she can go. Personally, I suspect that she matches up well against Theron for some reason, but that the Pratt fight is more indicative of where Beckinsale fits in at lightweight. I don’t think she really is a full fledged light—I think her people see the money to be made north of 120 and that’s where they have her, but you wonder if she’s just being exploited by her handlers. Guess we’ll find out, but I’ll tell you right up front: I don’t think Kate Beckinsale beats Jolene Blalock, let alone Jennifer Garner.”

Garner in electric blue, bra style bikini, hair back, Kate in black Coke Ad bikini, twist-tie top, white waistband. Cold fury in Kate’s eyes during ring instructions: she refuses to touch gloves with Jennifer—turning abruptly away instead.

During R1: Garner in that Jermaine Taylor stance, pushing off the right foot to pound jabs at the Beckinsale defences. Kate dukes up, weaving side to side, jabbing to Jennifer’s body—classy cut and thrust in the first minute as girls rotate clockwise, feeling one another out. Midway through, Jennifer tastes Kate’s power—Beckinsale with a crisp one-two loud against Garner’s raised guard—Kate hangs in on the front foot to jerk the clean-up left uppercut tangy on the chin, gets a little stagger step out of the former champ. Jennifer on her heels, Kate aggressively in—Beckinsale with a tight clubbing walking barrage of lefts and right hammers Garner ropeside. Katie mops up—Jenny well protected, rolling in the pocket, not offering back—Beckinsale gets off lusty to jen’s ribs and flanks, even propping Garner with a saucy extended left elbow to set up chopping rights and snatching hooks at the bell,. Katie deliberately bumping shoulders hard enough to jerk Garner around as girls pass en-route to corners: Beckinsale looking like a legit lightweight in the first.

R2: Garner pulsing the jab, piecing it out on Kate’s upperchest, bashing thought the guard to pound back Kate’s face—Beckinsale trying to trudge through it but paying a fearful price. Garner getting exactly what she wants—Katie coming forward, but not punching—Jen keys off the jab to land a blistering right uppercut to the chin, left hook high on the temple to unhinge Beckinsale’s legs. Katie wobbly butt to her left, eyes uncomprehending—few wandering steps and she hops to all fours with delayed reaction. Garner strutting to the neutral corner like a heptathlete walking back from the long jump pit—she’s nodding to her corner, business like as Katie takes 8. Garner moves in.

Smart jabs to the body to keep Beck’s butt in the ropes, hook to the ear, straight right hand forced between Kate’s mitts—Jen releasing rigid, vicious combinations in an effort to break Beckinsale down. Katie stubborn at the ropes, dukes up—she’s sacrificing her firm midriff, but blocking well upstairs—British brunette riding out the storm as Garner puts ringing combos together. Final minute—Beckinsale emboldened, hands at her temples, she starts timing hooks at Garner’s forehead in between Jen’s punches. Katie making contact, now chopping the right hand over the top, now beating Jen to the hook and backing Garner up—crowd roaring as Kate starts slugging in earnest and JEN JOINS IN! Stupendous free for all erupts, girls just pinning their ears back and tearing away tight n’ tidy and JENNIFER SCOOTS TO HER BUTT! Those quick Beckinsale fists—left uppercuts and right hands ping off Jen’s chin and face—Garner staring up in shock as blood starts to trickle from her left nostril. Steamy look of satisfaction as Beckinsale looms over her fallen foe—torrid punching second has crowd cheering through the break.

R3: Garner getting a talking-to in her corner—uncharacteristic lapse in judgment exposed her last round—she’s much more composed this round, Jen pumping stick, wheeling left, legging back to absorb Beckinsale’s lunging attacks, countering oncoming Brit with shrieking right uppercuts and whistling hooks. Garner establishing command with her legs and sledgehammer jab—beautiful Beckinsale busting up nicely as she pays the price to close, but give her credit: Katie’s only looking to come forward, never backing down.

R4: Garner goes to work. That jab is HAMMERING through the guard now, really smashing into Kate’s delicate features, spanking her skull back. Beckinsale stopped in her tracks, no longer able to force the issue—Jen’s stick reigns supreme. Garner circling to her left, cold blooded as as she mixes in that stab-and-retract right hand angled down into Kate’s creamy midsection, bobbing up with the jagged left uppercut. Boom-bam-boom straight rights and lefts through the middle force Kate back—Beckinsale no longer able to go where she wants in the ring—Jen’s positioning Kate against her will. Jabs and straight combinations whittle away at Beckinsale—by the final minute she’s looking shopworn, mouth open, discouraged, back to the ropes—Garner move in like a machine. Jenny jabbing face, then hooking body—Kate taking both punches stiffly, breaking down, not answering back—crowd on its feet as Jennifer starts to really get after it. Snatching hooks snug in behind Kate’s right elbow have Beck in a bad way—she’s starting to tilt forward, getting touched hard and clean as Jennifer picks and chooses. Tight left uppercut—Katie lolls back blinking, standing upright and Jennifer POUNDS away crisscross left/rights! Jennifer utterly focused on the job of pounding Kate’s face into putty—heartless fists punching and retracting in straight, crisp lines up the middle—Beckinsale’s guard limply giving way. Beckinsale’s head snapping back, mouth filling with blood—finally she sputters “STOP! STOP!” and the ref jumps in! Savage TKO4 and a rare verbal submission—Jennifer Garner.

After: Smiling Jennifer savouring the moment—looking up at the big screen monitor for the replays—it’s Garner at her most clinical, yet most brutal, kind of thing Garner fans will be pausing, replaying on VCR’s all over the country—straight, short, piston punches fitted into the space between Kate’s mitts—Jen’s head upright, eyes intent, shoulders and back muscling up as she pours abuse through the breach. Beckinsale pounded out on her feet, exquisite face all busted up under the relentless hammering and that plaintive, gurgling surrender—what a moment for Jennifer Garner. “That gave me goosepimples,” Jen gushes when asked about Kate’s choked surrender. “She’s gutty.” gracious Garner says of her shattered foe—cameras cutting to Beckinsale having her cheekbones examined by concerned physicians, “and she’s a spicy kind of puncher, gets a l;ot of body behind her shots. I didn’t think she could hurt me, but she dropped me in the second and that was a real wakeup call.”

Jennifer, Jennifer—what about all that extra face-punching?

“Don’t go making this another Garner witch hunt,” Jen scolds the Tractorpull minion intent on finding a bully in this fight. “I put punches together and pounded Kate out—that’s it. I wasn’t trying to ‘mar her beauty’ or ‘maul her;, and I don’t want to see you guys speculating that I was either!”

Reposted by Archer 5/18/09.