One of the most anticipated fights of the year concludes the Cardiff card where reigning bantamweight champion Lisa Maffia defends her title against the hottest woman in BBU in recent weeks, Lioness Club and Wales' own Charlotte Church.

After Church won her maiden FCBA fight against Elizabeth Olsen earlier in June she took her European rivals by the storm, destroyed Katherine Jenkins, Gemma Bissix and Alesha Dixon to emerge as a worthy contender to Lisa Maffia's crown. But the Beever's Babes' singer overcame a strong line-up of rivals herself to win the title back in and vows to do everything in order to stop Charlotte's magnificent streak this summer. All in all, it's the most prolific fight in BBU for months; everyone inside Cardiff Arena hopes that it will deliver the promise and judging by the girls' looks during introductions, one simply can't think otherwise!

Lisa Maffia wearing a black basque top with silver stripes, black knickers and red gloves. Charlotte Church wearing a red basque top with the Welsh dragon painted on each breast, white knickers and green gloves. Welsh flag is also painted on her right cheek and there's no prize for guessing who has the crowd support tonight. But Lisa ignores the jeers and whistles aimed at her and just drills her opponent with a very mean look in her eyes. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Both girls storm out of their corners and start ripping into each other as Lisa cracks a hook on Charlotte's jaw and keeps drilling her midriff thereafter, outworks the challenger in close range and bounces off her chest as Church goes for overhand response but is forced to cover up as Maffia pummels her jugs apart and signalls she's up for a strong performance, sends Charlotte tiptoeing to the ropes and swings around her head, skims off the temple and looks to trap the Welsh singer in a precarious position but Church whips straight jabs on the mouth and snaps the champion's head back, dekes to the side and searches for a low attack, goes around the elbows and connects with the ribcage, has Maffia falling into her and bumping racks but there's a quick hook to the kidneys from Lisa as she pushes the challenger against the ropes and sends low blows herself, right on the waist line and the crowd doesn't like it. Ref shoves the champion away and Charlotte jumps to the side, circles back to center of the ring but Maffia keeps swinging around her head, grazes the cheeks but can't shatter the guard anymore as she bounces off the leather and steps back herself as Church looks for more midsection damage in the dying seconds.

Round 2:
Another furious start to the round as Lisa clips Charlotte's chin in close range, sends a follow up over the top but misses the temple and eats a chest response with Church ripping uppercuts between her arms and making her moan in discomfort. Charlotte leans on the champion, nearly headbutts her on the jaw and pushes on the back foot, keeps slamming leather on the rack and Lisa must yield possession; she leaps top the side and looks for a counter but Charlotte ducks underneath those efforts, pounds away on the ribcage and pushes the champion even further towards the ropes but Maffia shows some quick feet and escapes trouble. Fight finally settles into a methodical punch & hide affair as both girls send single shots down the stretch, avoid all-in aggression and see out the round in mid-distance but keep glancing at each other with visible disdain during the interval.

Round 3:
This was just a short period of low-key action as Charlotte rips into Lisa's tummy straight from the bell and uppercuts the rack again but the champion leans on her and almost catches her with a headbutt herself, counters around the elbows and bounces off the ribs but it makes no impression on the local favorite who bangs a huge uppercut on the jaw that wobbles Maffia and makes her wince in pain as a follow up catches her on the right eye and Charlotte throws a flurry of punches on the head to keep the pressure; Lisa dekes to the side, holds her guard in tact after a difficult few seconds but misses the response and Church switches for the jugs maulling again, clearly otworks the champion in close range and sends vicious leather to the cleavage as Lisa's moans suddenly become a recurring factor. Crowd only gets more excited upon this action and they chant Charlotte's name for remainder of the round as the midriff assault drives Maffia to the ropes where she can only clinch the rampant local singer but still moans in discomfort as Church works around her elbows and shows some core strenght by spinning her against the turnbuckle and threatening to inflict more damage before the ref must shove her away in wake of the bell.

Round 4:
Lisa seeks a breakthrough combination and answers Charlotte's attack with one of her own, beats the challenger for overhand hook and tags her on the chin, rips a left hook on the nose and sags the Welsh blonde on her knees as the crowd's reaction dwindles; suddenly it's all Maffia pummelling Charlotte's mitts apart and bouncing off her cheeks, snapping the head back and Church ducks low, tries to clinch but Lisa nails her on the hairline and sends all over the shop as Charlotte tries to remain upright, drops her arms and allthough she avoids going down, a left/right hook combo catches her clean on the nose and sends spinning towards the ropes. Maffia pours in with a follow up over the top, nails Charlotte on the nose again and makes her cover up as she sends low punches therafter, punishes the ribcage and leaves the challenger soaking up abuse, left hand working against the ribs and drilling Charlotte towards the turnbuckle, wayward hooking response doesn't trouble the champ at all and Lisa signs off the round by a huge right hook on the jaw that pins the local girl on the ropes and leaves the crowd almost silent at the bell. Maffia barks in anger towards her opponent and Church for once is more interested in the shape of her nose rather than anything else, a quick check confirms couple of cuts but there's still no blood on either woman' face as Church looks a bit more roughed up after enduring a tough round.

Round 5:
Champion's skills on display early in the fifth as Lisa hangs back and lets Charlotte wear herself out in fruitless pursuit, unsuccessful attempt to tame Maffia's round four performance but there's more of this since the minute mark as Church drops her footwork rate and falls into mid-range assault; Lisa keeps sending single leather, bounces off the mitts before switching low and targeting the ribcage again. Church with overhand response, fails to make a noteworthy connection before realizing that Lisa just wants to secure this round on the cards rather than really follow up on the potential nasal damage and it only fuels her anger. She leaps after Maffia in the final minute and drills her guts but eats a left/right hooking combo on the temples and wobbles back as Lisa pours in between the guard and clips the nose again, slams leather across the mouth and pins the challenger on the back foot again; Church with a wide hook, too slow to make an impact and she grazes the forearms, loses her footing and bends forward as Lisa rips into her face again, cracks a right hook on the eye and sags the Welsh singer on her knees, pummels her on the body thereafter and reels back to the ropes but runs out of time to really punish the challenger and the crowd starts to lose their patience as Maffia seems to be ahead on the cards at half-distance.

Round 6:
Lioness Club trainer Gina Wild is also close to losing her temper as Charlotte hasn't really done much damage to Lisa tonight and looks to be deprived of her usual menacing ring presence. But she gathers her breath back to mount another challenge at the champion who is happy to accept another leather trade-off in the middle of the ring. Beevers camp looked in much better mood during the interval but suddenly Church clips Maffia's jaw with a solid hook and pummels on her body again and Denise Lewis' smile turns sour; Charlotte bashing on the stomach and making Lisa moan as the uppercuts on the rack don't push the Welsh girl back anymore. Church spikes the liver area and bends Maffia to the side in avoidance, right hook between the arms bounces off the jaw and Lisa leans on the challenger, another headbutt attempt but Charlotte spins away from it and grabs Lisa by the neck, whacks a right hand on the kidney and sends the champion tumbling down on the canvas as Denise Lewis is this close to jumping to the ring! Lisa down on her knees sobbing in pain and Beevers demand a disqualification but the crowd threatens to riot the place to pieces and the ref only deducts the local favorite a point for the most obvious rabbit shot of the month. Maffia's up on her feet after a little while and indicates she's been hurt, ref asks her if she wants to quit and forfeit the title... not gonna happen and it's a decoy from the Beevers' girl as she bunny hops around Charlotte soon afterwards already. The Welsh girl might have exposed herself with that cheap shot but the champion made the meal of that and it's a whistling concert for remainder of the round as both girls fall into a clinch and just wrestle each other around the ring; everyone needs a break after this round and indeed there are more relieved than angry faces during the interval.

Round 7:
There's nothing wrong with Lisa as she leaps after the challenger and swings around her head again but Charlotte responds in similar fashion and tags her on the chin before following up on the nose and another vicious exchange ensues as Maffia's face finally begins to show signs of her foe's leather, couple of nasty cuts appear on the left cheek as Church spikes her from point blank range and slices the mitts apart. Lisa gets pushed back but wants to jump at her rival anyway, they bump off each other jugs before a quick left hook clips the champion's jugs and Church pours in on the rack! She rocks Lisa's cleavage back & forth and breaks her down in close range, uppercuts on the jaw again and sends towards the ropes; big left hook misses the Welsh singer's head and Charlotte whacks her on the temple in a perfectly timed counter attack... Lisa sags on the ropes and bends to the side as the local favorite rips into her guts and pounds away at the rack again, loud squeals of pain from Maffia who seeks a clinch but gets nailed on the ear and crashes against the turnbuckles as Church suddenly screams out in anger and lands a mammoth hook that cleans out Lisa's nose on the spot... CHAMPION IS DOWN, THE CHAMPION IS DOWN as Maffia bounces off the ropes and tumbles face-first on the canvas before rolling onto her back and just staring at the ceiling lights... Cardiff Arena explodes in joy as Lisa gathers herself upright at six and keeps checking her nose for structural damage. There's nothing there to be worried about though but Charlotte rips into her straight after the command and Maffia has no choice but to respond likewise and she clips the challenger's temple but then eats another hook on the mouth and a follow up on the ribcage and is pinned on the ropes again as Church hits the frenzy button and buries her under a barrage of leather aimed at the head. She shatters the champion's guard and whacks her on the nose and both cheeks as Lisa's arms drop and for the first time fear sets in her eyes; Church goes bonkers in exeuction-style, manages to catch her foe on the rack as well and finds more uppercuts on the jaw as Maffia's head is snapped around in the corner and she's getting hammered into a pulp with the local girl turning her face into a swollen mess; loud moans of pain from the champion's throat but Church refuses to let go, ignores the bell and bangs a left/right combo on the mouth to send Lisa tumbling onto her backside again but that only earns her a warning as the time has expired... Lisa looks shell-shocked sitting on her buns and crawls back to her stool, just unable to embrace what exactly happened in this round...

Round 8:
Denise Lewis literally pushes Lisa out for the eight but the champion's eyes are misty and Charlotte traps her in the middle of the ring with another ribcage assault, uppercuts the rack and Maffia can only cover up but has little left in the tank and when the Welsh challenger nails her on the jaw, she wobbles back again and can't do anything when Charlotte rips into her face thereafter, smashing the mitts apart and pounding away at the flesh. She adds more bruises to the otherwise sore looking face and bounces off the nose with a loud thump, Lisa doesn't even bother to moan loudly anymore and just sags on the ropes, drops her gloves after repeated strikes shove them into her own mouth and Church cracks one last uppercut on the jaw to SEND THE CHAMPION JACK-KNIFING TO THE CANVAS... Maffia almost knocked out on her feet and the ref signals for the medics as he rolls the seemingly unconscious English singer onto her back... and she's out of here, folks... It's KO8 and NEW BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPION... Charlotte Church!!!

AFTER: Pandemonium in Cardiff as Charlotte Church follows Joe Calzaghe suit and claims the straps back to the Land of the Dragon. "Forget Imogen Thomas! She's all tits and no brains! I'm the real Pride of Wales", a visibly elated new champion parades around the ring with the belt around her waist and it's a moment the locals were waiting for a really long time.

"Believe it or not, Charlotte does seem to have a bigger following than Imogen Thomas around here", Denise van Outen is never shy of a proper gossip, "That must have something to do with Imogen being involved in one adultery scandal too many which even overshadows her boxing performances. Charlotte may have a big mouth but she's been to America and now concludes her summer BBU tour by taking the bantam belts away from Lisa Maffia! I say it's been a very good few weeks for her even though I still think she's a much worse singer than Katherine Jenkins!"

With all the focus on the new champion, Lisa Maffia's demise must be analyzed in details since she was leading at half-distance and didn't look bothered by that punch to the kidenys in the sixth. However just couple of rounds later she ended up getting knocked out of her senses and even Denise van Outen can't find the right answers right now: "Lisa was doing everything a champion should be doing, she had Charlotte where she wanted her and... failed. I can only imagine that was Charlotte running on half-throttle and once she kicked into higher gear, she simply overwhelmed Lisa and send her packing. I predict many sleepless nights at the Beevers HQ in the upcoming days!"

Final result: Charlotte Church def. Ch. Lisa Maffia KO8.