Downunder Boxing's Jessica Marais made a good start following her pregnancy pause by knocking out Kelly Reilly back in March but her current ACB status requires more ring action and more victories against better opposition than the redhead actress. Brooke Vincent is a promising upstart who also needs as much action as possible to underline her BBU presence and after the earlier lightweight rout, the commentators reckon it's actually the best chance for an English girl to score a victory tonight. "Marais is a tough little cookie but Brooke realizes it could be her one and only opportunity to defeat an international opponent. I have no idea how she secured this match-up since she's out of the Ashes picture but it's now or never if she wants to be reckoned with", Denise van Outen submits her pre-fight comments as Olivia Godfrey warns that Marais might thrive on her cmpatriots success and dish out another brutal beating of the local favorite.

Jessica Marais wearing a yellow basque top, black knickers and red gloves. Brooke Vincent wearing a red basque top, black knickers and red gloves. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Home support gives Brooke the confidence to attack her rival but Jessica was prepared for the early leather and covers up well as the brunette closes her down and sends shots on the tummy, clips the chest but catches overhand response and circles back as Jessica shows she's up for the tricks as well and nails the local girl on the tummy before following up with more leather on the ribcage. Vincent jumps back to the ropes, single strikes from behind the guard but the Aussie actress has her ducking and weaving with more punches around the head and she's walking the brunette down, sends low jabbing on the ribcage but retreats after eating a right hook on the temple. Action settles in the final minute as both girls look wary of each other's presence and seem to agree with BBU TV's pre-fight statements.

Round 2:
The ACB lightweights keep their focus in the front seats and watch Jessica's early attacks in the second as she beats Brooke for pace and slams her on the chin with a left hook, misses the right follow up though and gets nailed on the chest with a right jab herself. Vincent closes her down, somewhat lucky and not exactly planned but she buries a jabbing combo on the tummy and leans on the blonce as Marais can't stretch her arms and seeks a clinch, eats some shots on the ribcage and Brooke pushes her back but fails to close down again as it's Jessica's turn to dance around the ropes with the brunette trying to hassle her but without much noteworthy success. At the bell there's a feeling these two show each other too much respect and don't take enough risks which could lead into a lenghty scuffle.

Round 3:
Sure enough, neither woman in bold enough to attack and a cagey affair continues with single shots being send from mid-range. Lots of quick footwork and nifty avoidance moves as Jessica shows some torso flexibility and ducks around her foe's leather with her arms dropped to the side, all down to proper footwork but it's one for the purists and not exactly what the crowd wanted to see. Few angry looks among the ACB lightweights as Jennifer Hawkins finally yells out at Jessica to start punishing the brunette but the blonde actress seems to ignore this and just keeps sending single strikes on the body which do Vincent no harm whatsoever. A round to forget for the Manchester crowd.

Round 4:
Brooke finally realizes she can actually do some damage after avoiding all the blonde's efforts so far and lashes out at Marais much to the crowd's delight. She smacks Jessica's face with a left/right combo and for once the Aussie actress got caught out and seemingly expected another sluggish start from the local girl. Vincent settles in close range and whacks the blonde around the elbows, tries to bend her down and force to cover at best but Marais' ab muscles refuse to let their owner down and a swift right hook slams the brunette on the nose and stops her rout as Jessica opens up from both flanks and peppers the ribcage herself. Crowd finally gets to see a proper BBU bashing contest but with the visitor doing all the bashing as she backs Brooke against the ropes and keeps drilling her guts out with the brunette suddenly trapped and having no answers. Jennifer Hawkins is up on her feet shouting "That's what I'm talking about" as she applauds Marais' raiding Vincent's midriff before a left hook slices the brunette's mitts and nails her on the chin, snaps the head back and leave her hapless on the ropes, another right hook over the top rocks the head in another direction and a low hook right at the bell gives Vincent a rough reality check with Jessica in a totally different mood than before. Van Outen's predictions don't look so promising anymore!

Round 5:
Brooke tries to make amend for the previous round and leaps after the blonde but walks straight into another right hook that slams her on the eye and Jessica reaches out again, slams a left hook on the cheek and staggers the brunette on the spot. Vincent covers up but suddenly can't find her footwork anymore as the blonde ups the work rate and precision. Marais switches low, hammers away at the ribs and tries to slice the mitts but fails to connect with the chest this time and settles into more ribcage assault. She pushes the brunette to the ropes and makes her moan in the final minute as the high-tempo proves too much for the younger actress and as Krystal Forscutt joins Jennifer Hawkins in their support of fellow Aussie, Marais buries more gutwrenching leather on the tummy, shatters Brooke's low guard and leaves her gasping for air at the ropes. Bell just beats a left hook on the eye and Vincent stumbles to the side but Jessica gets dragged away by the ref and is given a warning as that punch landed late allthough Downunder's coach Nikki Visser indicates the arm movement couldn't have been stopped already anyway.

Round 6:
Vincent doesn't look as confident as few minutes ago but is forced to settle into another leather bashing as Marais closes her down in the middle of the ring and sends jabbing efforts on the tummy, has the brunette struggling for pace across the canvas and unable to escape to safety. Wild swings over the top follow but Jessica ducks around them, counters on the body and slams more hooks on the ribs, has the English girl moaning and answering back but lacking precision. On the other hand Marais lands one-off hooks on the head, snaps the dark hair around Brooke's neck and finally inflicts some bruising after a cross-hooking combo cuts Vincent's left cheek. One punch too many now for the younger actress who leaps back to the ropes but Jessica calms down too, seems to stare at the cheek injury more than anything else and teases her foe by dropping her arms and inviting Brooke to attack. But despite the crowd's support Vincent seeks a respite and checks the facial wound with her glove, searches for blood marks and misses another left hook that slams her on the eye and spins back to the ropes in the final minute as Marais is done with the teasing and targets more midriff damage. She hammers away at Brooke's stomach and has her all covered up and moaning in the dying seconds but the bell prevents her from making more inroads.

Round 7:
The bouts has drifted into a dangerous territory for Vincent who is clearly suffering from the blonde's extended onslaught and there's no change in the seventh as Marais leaps after her and keeps pounding the midsection; looks to finally break the brunette's resilience much to the crowd's and BBU TV's booth dismay. Brooke tries to clinch her but eats few low jabs clean on the navel, bends down and gets whacked on the ear with a right hook. She stumbles forward and almost drops to her knees as ref suddenly shoves the Aussie away and indicates she hit her rival at the back of the head. Some local support for the aching brunette and even Nikki Visser laughs off this interference. What's worse though, that warning seems to have annoyed Marais who's all over Vincent after the command and buries more leather between her arms, rocks the breasts back & forth and Brooke gets bashed to the ropes in the proccess, yelps in pain with every shot landed on her midriff and Jessica just can't stop punishing her, clips her chin with a left uppercut and whacks a right hand on the eye again, targets more facial damage in the final minute before running out of steam late but she's done more than enough to rough Brooke up as the brunette just drops her arms at the bell and stares at the canvas. She realizes she's getting pummelled around here and needs a late KO to secure victory but the crowd is equally intrigued whether Marais can actually knock her out? After such a bruising night for the locals, even lasting the distance against the might of ACB is regarded as a success.

Round 8:
Brooke is slow off her stool and really hurting now but Jessica has no sympathy whatsoever and keeps drilling her midsection, seemingly wants to either slice her in half or cause some structural damage to the ribs. Brooke's all covered up and backing away to the ropes, has her head snapped back with a quick switch upstairs but still refuses to buckle and Marais is getting annoyed instead. She whips a left/right combo on the guard, fails to slice through it and bangs a proper lacing shot on the back of the head this time as Vincent threw herself around the waist and rested the head on the shoulder. More action from the ref who drags the Aussie away but she wants to hurt her opponent even more and jumps after her; Vincent with a left hook on the mouth, snaps her head back but there's no follow up and another midriff assault pushes her to the ropes where Jessica keeps firing away, bounces off the forearms as her attacks lack precision now but it's down to overzealous attire rather than anything else and the fatigue also kicks in as the shots lose their vicious nature and there's seemingly no way she can send the brunette down. Late clinch concludes the round and despite all the leather thrown at her, a lumped up face & bruised ribcage, Brooke is still standing here even though she just slumps on her stool and closes her eyes.

Round 9:
Jessica drops her aggressive approach as she's looking to find extra energy for the last two rounds but since there's no threat from the local actress, she might settle for a decision. The crowd watches a repeat from the opening three rounds but this time both girls struggle to ignite noteworthy action due to physical limitations and more single strikes graze the flesh but impress nobody. Angry shouts from both camps urge the fighters into last-ditch attacks but Marais seems to have accepted the fact she simply can't knock Vincent out tonight and the younger actress looks relieved to avoid more damage as the lumps on her face are bad enough to concern anyone on the BBU roster. Girls circle around each other for most of the round and after the bell Jessica points at one of Vincent's wounds and they share a friendly laugh to stun the crowd. Brooke knows she's been battered tonight but wins her foe's respect with all the leather resistance.

Round 10:
Marais jumps after her rival one more time and perhaps that friendly laugh was only some kind of a mind game but Brooke spikes her over the top and snaps the head back, avoids more tummy barrage as she covers up well and in fact catches the Aussie on the jaw to stagger her back. She suddenly tries to close her down and perhaps land that last-ditch haymaker but Marais beats her for pace across the canvas and just dances around the brunette enjoying all the fruitless efforts. Brooke is allowed to hassle her around and Jessica now laughs out at her, drops her arms and teases into punching her before sending a quick cross hook on the mouth that finally relieves Vincent of any late KO ideas and Marais pummels around the elbows herself instead, finds one last chance and buries more leather on the stomach but Vincent slams her on the back of the head and now reverts into dirty tricks just to last the distance. Jessica leans on her and shoves to the ropes, tries to headbutt her and suddenly there's some hot temper on display but it's down to frustration as Marais just can't send the brunette down and gets whacked by a late shot on the chest herself, shoves Brooke against the turnbuckle and drills her stomach before getting clinched for good and the ref calls it a day himself, watches on as both women wrestle each other in the corner rather than box but it makes no difference at the bell. Comes back wide UD10 Jessica Marais!!!

Post-fight:
That was a strange fight with the blonde Aussie clearly dominating whenever some action was produced but it wasn't a classic by all means. After the ACB lightweights' dished out heavy punishment and simply brutalized their opposition, this was another kind of superiority. Brooke Vincent lasted the distance but was beaten up by a better girl, yet she left Jessica Marais angry over the missed knockout.

Indeed Jennifer Hawkins indicates that Marais "could do better than that", but Jessica shoves her away and heads straight for the drinks. "I take ugly wins over beautiful losses", sums up her tonight's performance and earns Denise van Outen's praise in the BBU TV booth: "So I got this wrong, Brooke was pummelled around the ring but the win was one of the ugly kind for Marais. Still, win is a win and that old cliche never gets old. And Jessica needs all the wins she can earn right now. She gave it her best and really roughed Brooke up but let's give credit to the youngster's punching resistance. Half of the UK bantams wouldn't have lasted the distance against Marais tonight but she did and received one of the biggest rounds of applause I ever heard for a losing girl. But let's go down to the ring for the last bout of the ACB Frenzy as two flyweights will try and demolish each other and I hope there's nothing left of the loser....who turned off my mic? Stop pulling pranks on me, Olive!"

Final result: Jessica Marais def. Brooke Vincent UD10.