Boxing story based on a real-life tennis match held during the second round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open earlier today.

Event: Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Venue: Ariake Coliseum.
Location: Tokyo, Kanto Region; Japan.

BEFORE: The absence of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in Tokyo turns the media attention to couple of feisty youngsters, both whom are destined to reach the highest levels of their game. Eugenie Bouchard already has a epic punchout of Ana Ivanovic under her belt but it's Sloane Stephens leading the pre-fight mind games: "Everyone says that I'm the next Serena Williams and Genie's the next Maria Sharapova. Well, if that's indeed the case, I'm all for punching Genie's guts out! We all know that Serena punishes Maria every time they meet and I feel that weight of responsibility on my shoulders. Girls like me simply do not lose against candy-faced blondes like Genie!"

Meanwhile Bouchard still fails to embrace the impressive destruction of Ana Ivanovic back at Wimbledon and talks underdog fashion: "Yeah, that was a great day for me but I've watched Sloane's results this year and she had this massive win over Serena in Melbourne. That can play on anyone's mind. I know we're riding the Serena and Maria bus but Maria called me before this fight and wished all the luck. In fact, she gave me some tips on how to handle Sloane's aggressive tactics. I just hope the fans will enjoy a great fight and who knows, maybe I can dish out another upset?"

Sloane Stephens wearing a violet bikini top, white knickers and black gloves. Dark hair tied in a sleek ponytail. Eugenie Bouchard wearing a yellow bikini top, white knickers and red gloves. Blonde hair tied in a braid. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the welterweight division.

Round 1:
Stephens gives away three inches on Bouchard but leaps after the blonde and swings around the head; dwarfs her footwork and agility early on but has to revert into a midriff jabbing as Genie keeps the high guard well and avoids the American's leather until she gets clubbed on the navel with a piercing left hook. Response over the top follows though and the Canadian slams a right hook on the jaw; Sloane's defence gets exposed and that's always a problem for the aggressive fighters, all-in attacks threaten to backfire in one's face; literally even, and Bouchard makes the most of catching Sloane by surprise, drives her backward with more jabs on the cheeks and Stephens yelps in pain already as she gets rocked on her feet with Eugenie showing some strenght behind her shots. Sloane eventually circles back alltogether as the blonde refuses to chase her down and settles into mid-range herself; both girls happy to hear the bell with neither convincingly on top so far.

Round 2:
Sloane romps out of her stool again, jabs at the head but that's a one-dimensional tactics which doesn't bother the blonde and the response brings more success instead again as Genie pierces Stephens' mitts with a left hook, cracks an uppercut on the jaw and pours in with more overhand leather as both girls tangle in the middle of the ring. Bouchard with more precision; Stephens with more effort and the outcome leaves the American wobbling on her feet after a left/right combo nails her on the nose and forces to cover up. Genie with metodical punching in close range, trying to split the mitts again but the uppercut attempts fail and influence a switch downstairs; blonde too eager to make her mark now, allows Stephens to clinch her instead and the ref steps in to break the stalemate. Quick launch from Sloane after the command but she misses the hooking effort on the temple and eats more overhand response as Bouchard tags her chin and whips a left hook on the eye; Stephens half-spins to the ropes and ducks underneath a flying hook moments later, forces another clinch as she wraps her arms around the Canadian's waist and runs the clock down before the ref can separate them again.

Round 3:
Genie more confident after that previous round, leaps after the American and beats her for the first punch; Sloane aggressive as usual but surprised by the blonde's charge, the reach difference doesn't help her either and she gets tagged on the jaw with Genie working the single hand and thumping her left glove against the American's mouth thereafter. Stephens staggers in the middle of the ring, allows the Canadian to snap her head back before she finally jumps to the side but Eugenie leaps after her and pours in with more facial assault, rocks Sloane's head back with another jabbing combo on the cheeks and switches downstairs on the navel, reels the American back to the ropes with couple of hooks on the tummy and Sloane has to cover up and seek clinch again as Genie reverts into punching the high guard afterwards, leans on her and keeps pinned butt-in-ropes for the remainder of the round; the Tokyo crowd cheering the blonde on as they clearly have their favorite now but Sloane's mitts stay in tact and prevent the Canadian from really roughing her up.

Round 4:
Stephens still struggles to dominate the blonde in close range leather exchange; Bouchard happy to answer the American's aggressive tactics as the Ivanovic upset lingers on her mind after all and gives more confidence. Quick hooking combo wobbles Sloane on her feet again but she avoids getting trapped in a proper barrage and just keeps coming back at the Canadian. She loses another trade-off in the middle minute though and Genie shows no fear nor underdog flaws as she thumps her mitts against her opponent's cheeks, makes her circle back in avoidance and just exactly who was supposed to act like that in the ring? Stephens starts to lose her temper in the final minite, barks in anger as the blonde catches her on the mouth with another single hand assault, follows up with an uppercut double on the chin but bounces off the guard and Stephens reels her back with a jabbing series on the stomach but another round is lost for the American who just can't work around her foe's superior reach.

Round 5:
Despite all the Bouchard advantage following the first round, she failed to really hurt Stephens thus far and finally loses a mini-battle as the American dekes around her jabbing combo on the head, cracks a right hook over the top and catches her on the temple. Sloane rips into her chest afterwards after nearly jumping on top of the blonde's body, too close contact for anyone's liking as both girls bounce off each other's chest and Sloane bangs an uppercut on the jaw and slams a left hook on the nose moments later and sags Eugenie on her feet. Ferocious pounding on the tummy follows and has the blonde covering up as the American can finally let her aggression out; she finds precision on top of that and pummels the blonde's chest, pushes her back to the ropes and keeps drilling the midsection; Genie's arms offer protection until the last half a minute when she allows the American to club some heavy leather against the navel and leave her soft on the knees; Stephens pounds away to more damage, pushes her foe firmly butt-in-ropes and refuses to give the blonde's midriff a respite only for the referee to halt her charge as the clock expires in the middle of Sloane's best period of the night to date.

Round 6:
Sloane's eager to follow up on that seemingly break-through fifth round, jumps after Bouchard and buries more jabs into her stomach as the blonde regained her breath back but still looks to be affected enough to allow the American's bullying tactics work. Stephens fires away around the elbows, staggers Genie on her feet and for once the Canadian's longer reach is useless as her foe's in red mist mode and keeps clubbing mitts against the skin, leaving ref patches on the ribcage and making the blonde moan in a mix of pain and exhaustion. Switch upstairs follows; Stephens working both hands on the head, cracks a couple of uppercuts on the chin and allthough Bouchard avoids getting nailed clean, she wobbles back and succumbs to the American's display of strenght. Sloane fakes another low switch, Genie obeys and drops her arms, a bad mistake as a left uppercut pierces her guard and tags on the jaw big time.. Tokyo crowd hold their breath back as suddenly Stephens clubs a jabbing combo on the nose and SENDS THE BLONDE SPAWLING ONTO HER BACK as the ammount of leather finally proves too much for her to handle... "Gotcha!!!", Stephens hops around and raises her arm in the air as the Canadian rolls onto all fours and desperately beats the count at seven; now she's visibly shaken and just wipes sweat off her eyes as Sloane left firm reddish marks on her face and just pours in with more leather after the command, seeks terminal solution and reels Bouchard back to the ropes with ease, wide slaps target the head but the rush of blood hurts the precision and she just keeps missing and only grazes the gloves as Genie remains butt-in-ropes but almost miraculously avoids that one haymaker that would almost certainly put her away for good. Bell.

Round 7:
Genie's hurt and refuses to engage in more close range trade-off. She reverts into some quick footwork and circles around Sloane who keeps hassling her but isn't a speed demon across the canvas herself. Still, one proper punch can send the Canadian down for the count again. Single hand attacks split the blonde's mitts as she dances around the ring in avoidance, avoids eating that haymaker troublemaker but eventually gasses out and falls into Stephens' striking zone, more wide hooks target her temples however the careless execution lets her off the hook as Sloane's red mist mode backfires and enables the Canadian to clinch her despite couple of those hooks landing clean on the cheeks. Stephens breaths hard herself, shows some fitness flaws and just shoves the blonde into the ropes, throws some low jabs around the kidneys; Bouchard squeals in pain but gets no help from the ref; Stephens manages to shrug her off in the dying seconds, lands another uppercut on the jaw and has the blonde spinning against the turnbuckle; huge left hook crashes off Genie's eye at the bell and she screams out in pain with the American firmly in control and just roughing her up for the best part of the last three rounds.

Round 8:
Stephens confident of success now, teases the wounded rival with her arms dropped to the side and just wants her to attack; Genie realizes the fight is slipping through her fingers and gives it all she's got, misses a left hook early, eats a right hand on the chest but tags Sloane on the hairline moments later and drills a left jab on the solar plexus to freeze the American in the middle of the ring gasping for air. Flurry of shots follows as Bouchard piles on with an unexpected assault and slices Stephens' mitts, bounces off the nose and wobbles her forward; Sloane tries to clinch but gets WHACKED on the temple with a big right hand as Genie yells out to support her effort.. loud thump echoes around the Ariake Coliseum... Stephens loses her footing AND LANDS ON HER KNEES at the Canadian's feet... So much for the teasing and fooling around.. Sloane still can't find her breath as she barely beats the count at eight and stares at her rival with misty eyes. Biggest punch of the night derails the American's streamroller and she gets pummelled around on her feet afterwards with Bouchard keen to follow up on that knockdown and perhaps ragdoll Sloane into a shocking defeat... No life in Stephens' eyes as she gets spun onto the ropes late in the going, Genie working with both hands on the head, clips the jaw and tags the mouth, sags Sloane deep into the ropes but runs out of time to finish her off as a massive turnaround brings the blonde back to the table.

Round 9:
Just how huge was that punch in the eight? But Sloane ate another on the solar plexus before that which pulled the plug on her in equally devastating fashion; both girls feeling the effects of an otherwise gruesome contest; they trade punches in the middle of the ring as Bouchard makes use of the superior reach advantage again and lands more shots on target, clips Stephens' mouth repeatedly and backs her towards the ropes as the American still can't shrug off that horrendous showing from the previous round. Thankfully for her, Genie seems to be running on empty as well however she still keeps Sloane on the back foot and scores a fine left/right combo on the mouth in the final minute and follows up with a chaotic leap against her chest, literally shoves Stephens into the ropes and buries another low jab on the navel. Sloane holds her tummy after the bell and threatens to lose her lunch as suddenly she's struggling to breathe and looks on at the crowd with visible discomfort. Ref checks up on her and she's in a really bad shape, all those punches which shattered her defence tonight seem to be coming back right now and despite sporting fewer facial bruises than her blonde rival, she's on the verge of breaking down mentally as well as physically.

Round 10:
Funereal pace from Sloane enables Genie to close her down and just thump more leather into her midriff, one-way traffic in the final round with only the lack of sheer strenght right at the death of this fight preventing the Canadian from putting the American away for good. Bouchard' braid keeps flicking from side to side as she buries more shots into Sloane's tummy and reels her back to the ropes; clinching effort from the American brings a brief respite but ref breaks them free quickly, quick shift upstairs has the blonde pouring into Sloane's face and just rocking her head back & forth, Eugenie determined to score a knockout but gasses out again herself and just leans on her foe, bith girls locked in a stalemate at the two minute mark and just pushing into each other cleavages afterwards; Stephens wraps her arms around the Canadian's neck and squeals into her ear; Bouchard has no strenght to shove her away anymore and the ref also realizes they're both at the end of their life supply; lets the clock expire few seconds later and we will go to the scorecards...

Genie thinks she's won it after all, raises her hands in the air while Sloane collapses to her knees and needs to be revived back onto her stool. She won't make it back for the official verdict and here it is... 96-94 for your winner... EUGENIE BOUCHARD!!!

AFTER: Tokyo crowd gives both these pretty youngsters a standing ovation and Genie consoles a sobbing Sloane in her corner, sticks to her "everyone's friend" image for now and just how can you not love this Canadian? Even after she snatched the victory from jaws of defeat with a massive hook that turned Stephens on life support for remainder of the fight, she still looks like a cheerful girl next door. OK, ignore those few lumps and bruises on her face as Sloane really gave her a severe pasting in the middle rounds and was destined to knock her out before disaster struck in the eight.

Meanwhile should this be considered as another upset win for the Canadian? Just how many upsets you're going to cause before you will be regarded as the favorite. The most impressive part of Bouchard's success is that she's higher in the ranks than BFF Laura Robson and the best teenager in the tennis world right now. Nonetherless with Stephens poised to break into the Top 10 sooner rather than later, it's still an upset here in Tokyo tonight.

Final result: Eugenie Bouchard def. Sloane Stephens UD10.

{{OOC: The actual tennis match ended 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-3. Stephens rallied from 0-5 to win the opening set and was a break up in the second before losing after 2 hours and 18 minutes of play.}}