Location: Aspen, Colorado, USA
Event: ESPN Winter Special

Two powerful girls who achieved major success in their professional life, Maria Sharapova, former World #1 in tennis with three Grand Slam tournaments under her belt and the undisputed highest-paid female athlete in the world for the past several years takes on Olympic downhill champion and the winner of ESPN's Athlete of the Year award for the last two years running (along with the Laureus World Sports Award in 2010), Minnesota-born, Colorado-based, Lindsey Vonn.

The fight is scheduled for ten round in the weltwerweight division.

Lindsey Vonn wearing a US-schemed bikini top with white bottom and red gloves. Maria Sharapova wearing a black bikini and red gloves.

Round 1:
Vonn is known for her aggression on the skiing course and looks to start the fight in similar way, but the much taller Russian keeps her at bay with her longer reach, throwing constant jabs and preventing the American from stepping in. Vonn light on her feet tries some low combinaiton, but doesn't even reach her rival who in turn leaps forward and lands a couple of hooks to the midsection. Vonn on the back foot, circles away and allows Sharapova to land more jabs on the arms and body as she's unable to make her mark early on. Sharapova hassles her along the ropes but can't trap her in one place for good and despite several big punches thrown at her, the American resists all the way through the round. Maria looks frustarted that most of her punches catch Lindsey's guard and are not making as much damage as she intended to. Nonetherless, she was much more active in the opening round and takes it on points easily.

Round 2:
Sharapova steps in and throws a big hook to the head, but Vonn blocks it off and responds with a nasty jab to the ribs that forces Sharapova to jump away. Vonn leaps forwards and looks to score her best sequence so far by jabbing at her rival with ferocious intensity and she manages to back the Russian along the ropes as she nails her in the guts a couple of times. Sharpova cringes, but protects herself with a low guard before wrapping her arms around Vonn's neck and forcing a clinch. After a brief struggle both girls are brought back to center of the ring and Sharapova catches the American with a big hook underneath the left eye! Vonn's head snapped backwards and there's a nasty swelling starting to appear where the punch landed. Maria keeps the emotions in tact though and methodically continues with her jabbing sequence, seemingly ignoring the damage she's caused to her opponent. Vonn was stunned for only a second there and circles around the Russian, faking some punches and weaving with the upperbody. Sharapova throws another hook, but misses and Lindsey dives under her elbow with a big hook from the right that lands right on Maria's breasts. Another left hook is blocked by Sharapova's arm though and they get tangled up as Vonn was looking to jump forward and close the distance. After another brief shoving moment, Lindsey pushes her rival away and throws a low combo to the midsection, but that comes off the Russian's arms. Sharapova tries to step up again, but there's the bell and the round ends.

Round 3:
Sharapova looks very menacing at the start of the third and throws another sequence of hooks that only catch Vonn's leather before the American is stunned with a big jab to the ribs. Suddenly Maria drives forwards with a flurry of punches, backs her rival into the ropes and punishes her with ruthless pounding to the midsection as Vonn covers up her face. Lindsey's stomach muscles must be made out of stone though as Sharapova just can't break her down and drops the attack after wasting too much energy with Vonn still staying upright. They both clinch as Lindsey leans on her opponent's chest and back herself away from the ropes. Some chaotic jabs lans on both women's ribs as they struggle for supremacy before Sharapova finally pushes the American away. Lindsey breating heavily and sporting a big swelling under the left eye but Maria's face is also flashing red colors as she put a lot of effort into that early charge, before realizing she's not soften up Vonn enough to send her down on the canvas so early in this fight. Both girls circle around each other and are happy to wait for the bell.

Round 4:
It's the Russian making the early charge once again, peppering Vonn's guard with well-placed but ineffective jabs. Lindsey easily weathers the storms and allows Maria to wear herself out a bit. Sharapova continues to show her frustration because she's not stamped her authority on the fight the way she wanted to. She backs off and looks to set up a better attacking position, but suddenly Vonn jumps right up to her and lands a couple of jabs to the nose that went right between the Russian's gloves. A bad lapse of concentration for Maria and it's getting worse as the American closes the distance and pushes her against the ropes with more heavy jabs to the ribs and chest. Sharapova covers up as she finds no better way to respond this onslaught and Vonn in top shape, punishes her with a barrage of punches. Maria bends down and couple of uppercut break through her guard and catch her in the jaw. Her head snaps backwards and this only ignites more aggression from the American. Tremendous pounding along the ropes and Vonn has damaged her rival to a great extent. Sharapova stays upright until the bell but her face is swollen red and she's walking on very soft legs after that charge from the American. Vonn's face is stone cold in the other corner and she means business now.

Round 5:
The previous round clearly affected Sharapova's confidence as she circles around at the start of the fifth and only invites Vonn into stepping it up further. Lindsey needs no second chance and she immediately closes the distance as Maria throws weak jabs and jumps back, but not quickly enough to prevent Vonn from landing a big right hook to the cheek. Sharapova's head snaps back again and she nearly loses her footing alltogether as Vonn backs her against the ropes and continues a brutal display of fury. Maria receives some very hard treatment as the American pounds her midsection with a lot of intensity. Five consecutive jabs reach the target and Sharapova can't take it anymore as she slides on her knees in sheer pain. Ref steps in and counts her to eight as she rises again nodding her head but looking very fragile in her eyes. Vonn steps it up and throws another combination of hooks to the head as the Russian covers up. This time the high guard works better and she's able to withstand the onslaught until the bell, but Vonn has also dropped her intensity in the closing stages of the round as she's rightfully accepted her increasing advnatage over the Russian opponent.

Round 6:
Maria stares down on the floor during the interval but Lindsey is not taking her eyes away from her in the other corner. Vonn's wound around the eye has been worked on by the cutmen and she looks in much better shape then her rival whose face looks extremely busted up. Lindsey wastes little time and lands another big hook seconds into the sixth and Maria's head has been rocked again. She tries to respond with some jabs, but they all are blocked by the American who counters with more hooks to the midsection right under Maria's elbows. They easily reach the target as Sharapova gets pummelled to the ropes one more time, Vonn still going strong, nails her in the guts with a violent jab and that one really hurt the Russian. A massive groan comes from her mouth and Vonn sends a couple of more jabs to the stomach... Maria slides on her knees again and allthough she gets up at seven, she looks in all sorts of bother... ref allows her to continue, but that's cruel and borders on malicious intent. Sharapova seems completely out of her senses, fails to raise her arms and gets nailed with a massive hook to the head and goes down for the third time just seconds after getting up! It's all over now!!! Sharapova crashes hard face-first into the canvas and she's not getting up anymore.. Lindsey Vonn jumps back to her corner and watches in delight as the ref counts her out... KO R6 Lindsey Vonn in commanding style!!!

Post-fight:
Lindsey Vonn walks around the ring with her arms raised in the air and blows several kisses to the crowd. Meanwhile Maria Sharapova has been brought back to her stool but she looks unaware of her whereabouts for few seconds. She finally realizes the end result and looks downright upset. Her height and reach advantage were overwhelmed by the pure aggression she feared the American might bring to the ring sooner or later. She started the fight well but didn't put Vonn out of her comfort zone and had no response for the American's charge once the rounds began racking up.

Lindsey Vonn confirms her status as the athlete of the moment; not only by ESPN's standards; as she pounded Maria Sharapova in truly vicious fashion, something very few would have predicted only two or three years ago.

Final result: Lindsey Vonn def. Maria Sharapova KO6.