The third fight of the Lioness Club Bantamweight Invitational features the exciting blonde newcomer from Sweden, Helena Mattsson and the raven-haired Kym Marsh from Kear's Kats. Mattsson fought twice in her short career, both in bantam and lightweight before, winning her debut in the former division against French beauty pageant Laury Thilleman. Word on the street is, she's in line to face the dominant figure of Malika Menard really soon; a real test of strenght for the Swedish blonde.

Meanwhile Marsh returns to action for the first time since she defeated local favorite Keisha Buchanan in the Lioness vs Kats event last November. Most people in the crowd remember the rough treatment she dished out to Buchanan and as both girls are introduced, Mattsson easily wins the crowd support contest. Marsh is furious, throws a deathstare at her rival, and looks more then ready to get the action underway. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Helena Mattsson wearing a pale blue bikini top, blue panties with a yellow cross on the left side (if anyone had any doubts regarding her nationality) and black gloves. Kym Marsh wearing a black bikini with silver stripes on the left side and red gloves.

Round 1:
Furious charge from Marsh straight from the bell, she leaps up to Mattsson and rocks her head with couple of early hooks, but misses a massive jab to the face as Helena jumped away to the ropes, clearly stunned by the intensity of her rival's attack. Marsh keeps closing the distance, throws more nasty jabs, grazes the blonde in the arms and body as Helena responds with single jabs, mostly to the midsection. She tries couple of hooks to the head, but Kym jumps around them and counters, peppering the blonde's ribcage. She tries to trap her in a corner, but Mattsson shows some fancy footwork as well, ducks and weaves away from Marsh's shots, keeps the distance and outlasts the raven-haired opponent who finally slows down inside the last seconds and allows the blonde to clinch her where both women remain at the bell.

Round 2:
Helena drops her arms and starts hopping around the ring, just waiting for Kym to strike and indeed gets tested quickly by a couple of heavy shots to the face, but covers up for them before Marsh lands a nasty sequence to the ribs. Helena winces in pain, Kym nailed her under the elbow and quickly opens from both flanks, pushes her to the ropes, where Mattsson looks to clinch. She succeeds but not before Kym lands another series and forces the blonde to moan in pain as the crowd start to whistle. Kym is getting the better of the two in a frantic exchange by the ropes, she shrugs off Helena's clinch and whacks her in the stomach before grazing her chin with a feisty uppercut. Helena responds with single jabes to the face, catches the brunette in the nose with a wayward shot but misses several others as Kym weaves around them before throwing a huge gut-wrencher which sinks the blonde on her knees. Kym pours in with sharp jabbing combo to the chest, tries to reach the face, but crashes off the leather as Helena covers up, still moaning loudly. Heavy slaps from both sides from Marsh, but she's unable to send her rival down on the floor as the bell sounds and secures a good round for the Kats' brunette.

Round 3:
Mattsson very focused on her stool during the interval, tries to swing the momentum away from her rival by closing the distance and manages to surprise Marsh with a couple of hooks that catch her in the brow ridge. Kym's head snaps back as she almost walked into those shots, clearly expecting the blonde to stay along the ropes. That's only a wake-up call as she nails Mattsson in the jugs before jumping away. Helena left her feet behind her and allowed Kym to step away, but there's another charge from the brunette soon. Kym shakes her head, shrugs off all the negative thoughts and leaps up to Helena, trying to lace her in the face with a feisty jabbing sequence. But the blonde steps aside, keeps annoying the brunette by walking around the ropes and allthough more aggressive, Kym is wearing herself out as her single jabs only graze the blonde on the arms and body. Helena counters with some body shots as well, but doesn't hurt the brunette enough to cause a significant damage. More frustrated slaps from Marsh towards the end of the round and Helena has avoided most of them, weaving around the ropes.

Round 4:
Marsh still going forward, squares up to the blonde early and continues to seek that haymaker to the chin, but once again Mattsson's guard is literally bulletproof and she responds with a cracker low-hook to the ribs as Kym was too slow to react and got left behind her attack for a fraction too long. She almost loses her footing after being hit and Helena lands a big left hook to the eye and Kym gets thrown onto the ropes all of the sudden. Helena's right there, lacing the brunette in the midsection and BANG!! Tremendous uppercut to the jaw sends Kym on all fours out of nowhere!!! Crowd errupts in joy, but Marsh is quickly up on her feet at five and the ref has an easy decision to make and allow this bout to continue. Kym is more stunned then hurt by the ghost-punch that send her down and responds with some wild hooks, unable to cause any real damage to her opponent but enough to stop a potential follow-up shelling that would have put this fight to bed. Helena can't clearly land her shots anymore, in between the chaotic slaps from Kym and reverts to some low jabs to the midsection but gets clinched and as Marsh leans herself on the ropes, she survives this round much to Mattsson's dismay. Helena looks upset for the first time tonight as she walks to her stool, a great chance went begging allthough most onlookers tend to think there was more luck involved in that knockdown rather then pure skill and strenght.

Round 5:
Helena with firm intentions to pick up where she left off in the fourth, but Kym's in top shape, hardly looking like a woman decked just few minutes ago. She counters the Swedish girl by closing in and they both literaly jump into each other in the middle of the ring and start throwing wild punches at each other. Helena lands some crisp jabs to the breasts but Kym responds with head-snapping hooks to the face and Helena loses her balance, gets caught twice in the mouth and bends forward, throwing wayward jabs to the ribs as she lost control. Kym shoves her to the ropes with couple of big hooks, Helena's guard breaks down for the first time tonight and she takes another two left hooks before finally covering up, but Kym's all over her now, landing vicious jabs to the ribs and arms. Mattsson sinks further down on her knees, unable to jump away as she's trapped for good and can only hope for Marsh to finally lose her breath. It's not happening as Kym lands a couple more heavy shots to the ribs and Helena kneels down on one leg before getting thumped in the gloves which causes her to lose her balance and fall flat on her back!!! Ref starts the count as Kym looks in anxiety, but Helena just takes her time and gets up at eight, allthough it looked like she could have done it earlier. Marsh throws more hooks, but fails to connect as the blonde jumps away to the ropes and Kym's chase is short-lived and cut short by the bell. Much better round for the Kats' woman who earned her knockdown in a better fashion then Mattsson but at half-distance it's still anyone's for the taking.

Round 6:
There's another clash in the middle of the ring straight from the bell, Kym leaps up in familiar fashion, but Helena's aware she lost all the positive momentum from the fourth round and does likewise, this time landing a crisp right hook to the eye and rocking Kym for good. Angry jabs from the brunette miss the target as she's laced in the guts with a jabbing sequence and now it's her turn to retreat but Helena literally backs her against the ropes with more nasty shots to the midsecton. Kym starts to moan, her stomach takes quite a beating this round and Helena pours in with more jabs to the face, firmly keeping the pressure on her rival. Kym throws single jabs in response, but Helena blocks most of them and continues to land solid punches, snapping the brunette's head several times even when her guard stays in tact. There's not much real strenght behind those shots, but the total number and repeated nature really wear Marsh out and enable Mattsson to dominate this round. But it's a question of slowly drying the brunette out rather then knocking her out with one big punch. Will this be effective enough for Mattsson or will Marsh outlast her in the end. Kym does look more tired of the two as they head to their corners but Helena's face is also reddened into a great extent.

Round 7:
Despite a bad previous round, Kym refuses to stay on the back foot, just keeps coming back at the blonde foe, still confident of own superiority. She misses a couple of early hooks though and allows Mattsson to counter her low in the ribs before another big uppercut to the jaw throws her to the ropes. Kym moans in pain, tries to clinch but Helena opens from both wings, laces the brunette with single jabs to the face and jugs and wobbles her significantly. Couple of hooks sway Marsh on her legs and Helena finally lands a big right hook to the eye and it's getting ugly as Kym's developed a nasty gash underneath her eye as a result. Blonde notices it and literally jumps at her rival, almost pushing her between the ropes as the ref is forced to step in and separate the girls. Kym's still shaken by the wound, covers herself and allows Helena to back her against the corner post, but the intensity has dropped from the Swedish girl as she's landing weak shots to the gloves and finally leans on the brunette, catching a breath herself. Marsh's relieved to outlast the punishment, but the fight has turned downright ugly for her anyway. More fruitless clinching follow, the fatigue has finally caught up with both of them and Helena just can't follow-up on working that wound underneath the brunette's eye. Single low jabs to the ribs in the clinch are all this round has to offer in the closing seconds and both girls walk slowly to their corners.

Round 8:
Extensive work being done by Marsh's cutmen, that wound looks really deep, seemingly impossible to have been caused by someone of Mattsson's physical presence, but the repeated nature of her shots proved to be the difference. Helena's restored some energy back and looks more lively of the two as they trade some punches in mid-distance for most of the opening minute. She's clearly tempted into working on that cut but Marsh holds her left glove even higher in the guard, over-protecting her wounded spot and throwing single jabs from the right on a more frequent basis. Mattsson hardly woks the low combinations anymore despite Kym's midsection taking a heavy beating earlier. Teasing left jabs to the head by the blonde before she repeatedly fakes a right hook, all too-easy to read through by the Kats' girl though. Crowd loses their patience as the fight has really hit a rock in the eight, Mattsson's desire of opening the wound has been too predictable and exposes her inexperience too much. That cut has done more damage to her successful tactics rather then Kym's physical shape. More single jabs fail to reach the brunette's face but Helena just keeps coming for more and lands most of them against the leather. Loud whistles and screams at the bell, Mattsson acts like she has this won already, looking cool and composed, whereas Marsh's eyes still throw venom from the opposite end.

Round 9:
Mostly lethargic eight round has enabled Kym to find something in the tank and she catches the surprised blonde in the face with a wild hook just seconds into the ninth and follows-up with a jabbing sequence to the stomach. Helena moans in pain, but manages to jump away and circles away from the brunette's jabs. She pauses and checks up on her as Kym stands in the middle of the ring. Helena drops her arms and starts circling around her, but there's another sudden leap from the brunette and a solid hook grazes the blonde in the nose before a nasty jab nails her in the stomach and pushes towards the ropes. Kym looks to make most of it, squares up to the briefly stunned rival, but can't land a solid punch in the face and crashes off the blonde's guard as Helena manages to clinch her soon afterwards. Angry screams from Kym in the stalemate as Helena almost tries to headbutt her in the wound under the eye. Kym leans her head back while getting caught in the ribs as Helena's just piles in with chaotic attacks, almost tripping both herself and Marsh to the ground. Ref steps in and shoves the brunette away as Helena jumps after her, but gets stopped by the man in charge. Both girls really struggle for breath now and stare at each other until the bell. The tanks are empty in both corners according to most of the observers.

Round 10:
Single punches from Mattsson graze Marsh's breasts and stomach and the brunette switches on the survival mode early, leaps up to her rival, throws couple of shots and immediately looks for a clinch. Helena finds some luck with Kym almost dead on her legs and catches her twice under the eye with single jabs and the swelling increases even further, clearly affecting the raven-haired woman. Marsh hopes to take it to the cards and wants to score some low jabs to the midsection in the clinch, but Helena also conceded the knockout attempts and switches into a similar game plan for the final round. Both girls lean onto each other, try to shove themselves around the ropes and Kym's really hurting now, moans louder of the two with her eyes close and just laces Helena in the back with little effect. The blonde finally pushes her away against the corner post and Kym just stands there, waits for the onslaught to come, but Helena's face is purple red with exhaustion and she has nothing more to give. Crowd is left disappointed by the lack of a late knockout, but both women have fought to their limits and receive a solid applause after the final bell. Helena bends on the ropes and has her eyes glued to the first few rows of seats while Kym is escorted back to her corner by the referee and she really looks totally worn out, immediately places an ice-pace to cover the deep cut under her left eye which began bleeding again in the dying seconds of the fight. On top of that there's a major swelling around it and Kym undoubtfully looks more damaged of the two. But will that be reflected in the final verdict?

After ten rounds of boxing we go to the scorecards... and we have a SPLIT DECISION... judges score the bouth 96-95 for Helena Mattsson... 96-95 for Kym Marsh... and 97-96 for your winner... HELENA MATTSSON!!!

Post-fight:
Helena crumbles on her knees in disbelief but eventually lets the joyful emotions get to her and she sports a smile every dentist in London would be proud to advert. Crowd finally acknowledges the effort both women put up tonight and grate them with a standing ovation, something never seen in the KO Club in a fight lacking the presence of a Lioness fighter.

Kym Marsh understandably looks downbeat, clenches her fist in anger but eventually accepts Helena's handshake as both girls show themselves a muted respect after this gruesome combat. This was an equally brave performance from the raven-haired woman and perhaps without that gash under the eye, the judges would have given her the verdict. The impression that Mattsson gained with leaving a more visible injury to Marsh then other way around could have been the deciding factor on couple of cards that gave the blonde the advantage.

Both women leave the ring separately, Kym heads to the locker room first, still holding the ice-pack around her eye; followed by Helena who blows kisses and waves frantically to the crowd as she relishes this hard-fought success.

The day-after:
Lioness Club Director of Communications Kate Garraway has confirmed that the fight between Helena Mattsson and Kym Marsh has attracted the biggest positive response out of all the bouts which didn't involve the local stable's fighters in the KO Club's history! "The numbers have gone through the roof with Helena and Kym" Kate explains in her brief talk to BBU TV's reporter Denise van Outen. "The fact Kym knocked out Keisha last year hardly makes any difference now, our residents want to see more of both her and Helena Mattsson as well. I will talk to the Kats' executives and Helena's entourage which I understand is based around the Tech Unlimited crew and if we get more of these bantam events held in our club in the future, both Kym and Helena will be always welcomed. They've sold this event almost on their own and it exceeded all the expectations! If we ever create a Lioness Club Hall of Fame, this bout will be a lock for the inaugural entry. As for now, we're sending extra cash to Kym and Helena for their performance. They got a bigger viewing rate then even our girls Pilar and Charlotte last night. Simply unbelievable!"

Final result: Helena Mattsson def. Kym Marsh (Split Decision).