With the entire country switching their focus from Cannes Film Festival to Tour de France in recent weeks there's still room to celebrate another anniversary of the Fall of the Bastille. And what better way to celebrate it than to arrange a domestic lightweight clash between two best known French actresses since the heyday of Sophie Marceau and Juliette Binoche.

Berenice Marlohe made a spectacular BBU debut last December against Elisabetta Canalis but Marion Cotillard brings more experience to the ring backed by her Latin Union management. Despite some fond words from the Foxfire Atlantic stable, Marlohe still seeks her place among the BBU teams and claims she's happy as independent fighter in a pre-fight interview with Georgie Thompson who's back on BBU TV duty after a brief sabbatical during the spring months. However Malika Menard's presence seems to be the real problem with Foxfire's interest as there's not enough room for two A-list French stars on that particular roster.

Berenice Marlohe wearing a black basque top, white knickers and red gloves. Dark brown hair in loose waves. Marion Cotillard wearing a red basque top, white knickers and blue gloves. Brown hair loose.

Round 1:
Marlohe opens up early and tries to intimidate her rival by jabbing to the ribcage as Marion reverts to her speed and agility and dodges the attacks before reaching out after Berenice's rack. She fails to slice the arms though and eats an overhand hook on the eye as Marlohe closes the distance and pounds away at the tummy, bends Cotillard to the side and forces her back. More teasing shots around the stomach follow but Marion's quick on her feet in avoidance and seeks another chance to have a crack at her foe but Berenice strikes an imposing figure and keeps swinging around Cotillard's head to leave her on the back foot and circling around the ring for remainder of the round.

Round 2:
More aggressive jabs from the Bond girl as she whacks Marion on the ribs and forces a low cover. Quick left hook on the eye follows and Berenice finds her rhythm with another series upstairs as Cotillard struggles in close range and has her head snapped back as a result. She jumps to the side and seeks a respite but Marlohe's right after her jabbing to the guts, uppercuts the rack but Marion goes around the elbows, peppers the ribcage herself and seems to accept a brief leather exchange as she can't stray away from her rival. Berenice cracks a left hook on the mouth though and backs her against the turnbuckle where she aims for some chest assualt but Marion lashes out at her stomach instead, still pinned on the ropes but seemingly acting like a wounded animal and she gives Berenice couple of heavy shots, forces a clinch and manages to tame a dangerous looking onslaught as the Bond girl just shoves her against the turnbuckles to incur referee's wrath. But there's no time to resume the fight after the command so both girls head back to their corners coy on who had the upperhand in this round.

Round 3:
Marion hangs back in mid-range, blocks off Berenice's jabbing efforts for a while but the Bond girl ups the work rate quickly and begins to smack single shots on her rival's face and Cotillard must revert into more agile footwork but then gets nailed with a big left hook on the temple and wobbles back. Marlohe doesn't punish her immediately though, sports a big smile and seems to observe Marion's reactions more than anything else. Cotillard quickly shrugs off that punch and suddenly leaps after Berenice and jabs to her tummy, goes around the elbows and tries to push her back but eats another overhand hook on the temple as Marlohe shows superior ab muscles strenght and just peppers between the arms thereafter, bounces off the chest and bends Marion forward, cracks a left uppercut on the jaw and follows up with a right on the eye. Cotillard winces in pain and wobbles forward, seeks a clinch but gets clobbered on the chest with another vicious attack and stumbles to the ropes. Berenice's right after her and traps on the ropes in the final minute, keeps pounding away at the midriff as Marion's all covered up and just soaks up punishment but Marlohe's striking sinks her further on the knees and leaves gasping for air at the bell with Berenice shaking her glove to the crowd!

Round 4:
Marlohe's confident she's rocked Cotillard off her comfort zone and traps her early in the fourth with more jabbing to the tummy. Overhand response from the Academy Award winner misses the head and as Berenice starts to land more shots on the tummy, Marion begins to moan in pain and has to back away. But a left hook catches her on the jaw and wobbles to the side and Berenice lashes out her chest moments later, slices the mitts and spikes the red basque top, rocking Marion's breasts in the proccess. Crowd dwells on Cotillard's aching moans as Berenice rips into her ribcage with both hands and drives back to the ropes where she switches high and slams a cross-hooking combo on the chin, buries a low series on the navel thereafter and she's just beating her rival up along the ropes, finally showing some Malika Menard-alike intimidating skills. Marion tries to clinch her, gets pushed into the ropes with more uppercuts on the rack and a left hook nails her on the temple to cause the hair to swing around her neck as she just sags on her knees and allows Marlohe to clean out her midsection in the last thirty seconds of the round as the Bond girl's assault begins to look lethal. At the bell Marion's holding her tummy and looks in severe discomfort as Berenice flashes a big smile and plays with the crowd who seem to support her bid to demolish the Academy Award winning opponent.

Round 5:
More midsection misery for Cotillard who gets slammed on the navel with Marlohe's another quick approach and the speed advantage is nowhere to be seen anymore as Berenice switches high again and looks to shatter her foe's mitts. She pummels the guard but Marion fails to keep her at bay for too long and crumbles when a right hook bounces off her nose and a left follow up lands on her breasts. Cotillard's rooted to the spot in the middle of the ring with Berenice bashing heavy leather on the ribcage before targeting the head again and Marion wobbles back, drops her arms and gets tagged with another hook on the temple. Berenice seems to really enjoy punching Marion's face as she rips an uppercut on the jaw with the Latin Union girl now struggling to even embrace all the leather being thrown at her and she tries to clinch Berenice but gets pummelled back to the ropes in the second minute and allthough she wraps her arms around the waist, Marlohe manages to slam her right hand against the ribs as she turns Marion to the side and pushes her against the ropes. Cotillard moans in pain and can't shrug her opponent off, tries to catch her on the jaw but gets spiked repeatedly on the ribcage and continues to wince in pain as Berenice laces her on the kidneys to finally call the ref into action. Marion just sags on the ropes and doesn't even bother with escaping from another furious charge as Marlohe whacks her on the tummy and drills the chest with another series of uppercuts and Cotillard's fortunate to hear the bell with Berenice firmly in control now and softening her up with great success. Marion slumps on her stool and keeps hugging her chest as the ammount of leather she's taken proves almost too much to handle.

Round 6:
Marion's slow off her stool and Berenice pounces on her immediately after the bell, whips a jabbing combo on the face and snaps the head back. Cotillard's arms are not quick enough to raise and cover her face anymore and Berenice rips more hooks on the eye, makes Marion wobble back in avoidance but as she hits another left/right series on the mouth, Cotillard leans forward with some blood dripping from her lips and it only fuels the Bond girl's anger as she slams a left hook on the temple and another right on the nose... DOWN GOES MARION CRASHING ON HER KNEES... She stares at the blood stains at Berenice's feet and realizes her lips have been busted up by the rampant compatriot and remains on all fours until the count reaches seven before launching herself back upright. Marlohe offers her a telling smile and jumps immediately after the command bashing vicious leather on the head. Marion covers up but gets her mitts shoved against her nose as Berenice hits the destruction button and slaps heavy shots from both flanks, snaps Cotillard's head back and drives her to the ropes but not quite, sends a huge uppercut between the arms and straight on the chin to cause the loudest noise from Marion yet; silences her moments later with a cross-hooking combo on the mouth that leaves a severe blood stream marking Marion's face and she drops her arms and leans on the ropes, can only watch as Berenice slams a right hook on the nose from point-blank range, another left on the cheek and a right on the nose again to SEND COTILLARD CRASHING ON HER SIDE at her feet... Ref starts the count but Marion is left blubbering on the canvas with her eyes closed and it's obvious she's not getting up anytime soon... KO R6 Berenice Marlohe!!!

Post-fight:
Berenice raises both her arms in the air and dwells on the crowd's reaction but seems to hardly celebrate her vicious punchout of Marion Cotillard; later admits to Georgie Thompson it was a routine win on her path to future BBU glory: "I know people compare me to Malika Menard and let me say I'm flattered to hear that BUT once I get on the roll, Malika will be just a ghost from the past. I mean, those pageant winners come and go whereas real women, real fighters like me or Monica Bellucci or Carla Bruni are there to stay. In fact looking at 2013, Malika seems to be yesterday's news already. Guess she's enjoying playing with her servants too much at the Foxfire's mansion! (...) Yes, I know she'll be upset when she hears that, Georgie but again, it's the Fall of the Bastille day and who's on the news? Marion and I. Nobody knows what's Malika doing and probably nobody even cares..."

As Georgie Thompson admits in her post-fight report that Berenice sure sounds like a confident woman, some rumours emerge that she's up for a series of high-profile fights this summer and autumn with her ultimate goal to become the first independent BBU champion. More from Georgie: "I know there are several big guns in the lightweight division currently reigned by Miranda Kerr. We've got Matsumoto, Forscutt, Tonkin, Wiseman, Mattsson all capable of stripping Miranda of her title and of course 'Le Grande Malika' right in the mix too but one wouldn't want to bet against Berenice at all right now. She's like a loose cannon and if she really plans to give the BBU girls a trial by fire, we're up for the greatest one-fighter showing since Malika Menard herself last year. Apparently there's a page online 'BustyAndMean.com' being set up to support Marlohe's bid for glory (and it's not about some WWE Ring Divas like reported before) and fellow brunette Bond Girls like Teri Hatcher, Eva Green and Olga Kurylenko are making sure the word gets spread out around the world, not just in the UK. Exciting times ahead for all fans of busty brunettes like her! "

Final result: Berenice Marlohe def. Marion Cotillard KO6.