BBU INTERNATIONAL CARD FROM CARDIFF ARENA

Posted by Vassago on November 23, 2013, 7:46 am

Nicky Whelan wearing a yellow bikini top, silver boy-leg trunks and red gloves. Blonde hair tied in a messy ponytail. Gabriella Cilmi wearing a green basque top, silver knickers and black gloves. Dark brown hair in loose curls. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Nicky leaps into a surprising attack given her mediocre record and puts the brunette under early pressure, snaps Gabriella's head back with a jabbing combo and staggers her in the middle of the ring, keeps swinging around the head but fails to slice the guard down the stretch and falls into Cilmi's spiking response on the ribcage. Gabriella weaves away into mid-range showing superior footwork and tags the blonde's liver area to catch her attention for good but misses an uppercut approach and eats overhand counter as the spirited bashing goes on until the final minute with Nicky managing to nail the singer on the chin and follow up on the temple to secure the round according to Charlie Webster.

Round 2:
Gabriella responds to Nicky's attacks and tangles with her in the middle of the ring, beats the blonde for an overhand left and tags the chin, tries to follow up on the nose but misses the uppercut and loses her balance, bends forward and can do little about Whelan crashing a right jab against her mouth. More venom from the actress thereafter, Whelan pounces on the opportunity and snaps the brunette's head back with repeated jabbing, sags her in the middle of the ring for good and switches low to make Gabriella moan in discomfort. Another uppercut pierces her mitts and bounces off the jaw, left hook on the eye follows and wobbles Cilmi on the ropes as Nicky pours with more leather on the stomach and just sinks the cumbersome rival on her knees, furious blonde bashing for remainder of the round showing no sympathy to the brunette's breadbasket and Cilmi looks to be hurting already as Whelan roars in determined fashion.

Round 3:
The long lay-off period seems to be really affecting Cilmi's performance as she loses another opening exchange, allows Whelan to snap her head back with more jabbing shots and now there are couple of nasty lumps appearing on the singer's face as Nicky keeps working upstairs until she gets clinched on the minute mark with Gabriella trying to tame her onslaught but showing little ideas how to do it. Nicky shrug her off and jabs over the top again, tags the left eye and cracks a right hook on the temple afterwards; Cilmi wobbles on her knees and as she seeks another useless clinch, gets harpooned on the rack with a piercing uppercut and gets pushed back to the ropes with Nicky literally jumping at her and drilling the stomach again once she traps the brunette on the ropes. Similar end to the round, Whelan keeps punishing Gabriella's tummy and pulls further ahead as the singer can't find any significant response so far.

Round 4:
A field day for Nicky Whelan's fans comes to a sudden halt when she gets tagged on the chin by a wayward hook early in the fourth, she was harrassing Cilmi again but bounced off the forearms for once and fell into a big punch that's always caused her trouble before; Gabriella finally notices her chance and cracks more jabs over the top, swings the blonde ponytail around and adds some lumps of her own as Nicky's punching resistance gets exposed and she weaves on her feet in avoidance but is unable to clinch the singer, eats another uppercut on the jaw and wobbles back as Gabriella pours in between the arms, rocks the blonde's jugs around and blasts a right hook on the temple sending Whelan spinning onto the ropes... flying hook pierces the guard one more time and whacks Nicky on the lip, left hook on the temple bends her to the side before a thumping gutwrencher gets buried in her navel AND SENDS HER TUMBLING ONTO HER KNEES... Cilmi shakes her glove in delight as Whelan fights back the tears; she really felt that punch and allthough she beats the count at six, gets trapped on to the ropes for remainder of the round with the brunette now finding success against the tummy and just drilling Nicky's guts out; more shouts from the singer after the bell as Whelan suddenly looks very fragile.

Round 5:
Gabriella wants to follow up on that huge round and leaps after the blonde with mean intentions but Nicky realizes she's got a golden chance to overcome her old flaws and rips into the brunette as well; free-for-all punching galore in the middle of the ring leaves the blonde with a cut lip but more importantly she tears the skin under Cilmi's left eye with heavy jabbing, wobbles back a bit when the visibly annoyed singer tries to punish her stomach again but runs out of breath and allows Whelan to spike the wounded eye instead, couple of big hooks snap the brunette's head back and she breaks free first, realizes she's been cut and tries to wipe the sweat off her forehead as Nicky mounts another charge, has Gabriella weaving in avoidance but unable to tame the single striking menace and that's poor from the singer who looked certain to turn the tables on Whelan after that knockdown but lost the slugging contest and allowed herself to be cut with Nicky bursting into aggression against the odds and targeting the midriff again as Cilmi breaths very hard at the bell but looks happy that she escaped the blonde's leather. Charlie Webster is not impressed in the booth though.

Round 6:
Whelan seems unaffected by that knockdown and that's a real surprise as she gives her foe more trouble with overhand jabbing, just bouncing off Cilmi's cheeks and slowing her down in the middle of the ring before switching low and punishing the navel. Gabriella's back to cumbersome status, goes around the elbows herself but can't find that venom anymore and gets reeled to the ropes with the blonde increasing her onslaught, now just pouring mitts against the breadbasket and making the singer yelp in pain; Nicky traps the brunette for good and whips an uppercut on the jaw, places her forearms against the rack and lands couple of jabs straight on the mouth as Cilmi drifts away into punchbag mode and just can't handle the blonde's antics, more lumps appear on her face as she sags on her knees and Whelan pierces her guard and finds more uppercuts on the jaw, buries the brunette deep into the ropes and takes another round with ease but just can't find that finishing punch and that's an old flaw which questions her prospects.

Round 7:
Cilmi's very slow on her feet and can't escape another charge from the blonde who pierces her mitts with accurate jabbing and opens the cut under the left eye once again. Cross-hooking combo leaves the singer rocking from side to side as she stumbles forward and falls into temple assault as Whelan cracks a flurry of shots and spins the brunette around with her head snapping back & forth... loud moaning suddenly stops as Cilmi's arms go num AND SHE FINALLY FALLS ON THE CANVAS... face-first at the blonde's feet and the actress yells out a primal scream of joy, so close to that maiden triumph... Gabriella's up on all fours at six and beats the count at eight, tries to indicate she's good to go but there's just no fire in her eyes and she does looks suspiciously out of sorts even despite that knockdown earlier. Ref doesn't like the body language and calls it off with the blonde actress leaping around in joy in the background... Cilmi doesn't even looks all that angry and calmly removes her mouthpiece... what on Earth is going on there? TKO7 Nicky Whelan!!!

AFTER: Very strange behaviour from the brunette singer who hardly showed any heart in the ring tonight even in wake of her opponent's mediocre record. Charlie Webster is as stunned as most of the audience but because Gabriella declines a post-fight interview, she's unable to determine what's really happened with her and leaves that question very much open for the time being.

That makes no difference to Nicky Whelan though, the blonde girl secures her maiden BBU victory but she really should have finished Gabriella off much quicker as aside from the fourth round she dominated in the ring tonight. Charlie's keen to underline Nicky's recurring sins, the mediocre punch resistance and lack of sheer strenght behind her shots have led to all those defeats from the past and quite frankly if someone else than a suspiciously hollow brunette showed up tonight, Whelan's maiden victory probably would have to be postponed.

Final result: Nicky Whelan def. Gabriella Cilmi TKO7.