It's the last bout of the International Card in Mannheim and who else is more qualified to close out the action that the city's own Mandy Capristo. The 23 year old singer enjoyed a great start to her BBU career securing swift knockouts of Alexandra Burke and Rachel Stevens last year before going down on points to Ola Jordan in a pulsating back & forth affair that left dozens of female boxing fans wanting more stuff like this. Well, folks, tonight's the night and there's another blonde battle royal on the cards as Team Canada's Emilie Ullerup makes the trip to Europe again to entertain the crowd. 

The 29 year old is still mocked by some about her BBU debut against Nadine Coyle, and a word on the street is that Ems can't wait to get a revenge on the ex-Girls Aloud Irish singer already but before that she's jumped in to test Mandy's big punching skills that impressed many in the last few weeks. In fact, Ullerup has something against the singers ever since that Coyle disaster and she's never shy of the most difficult opponents, last year she tried to end Amelia Lily Oliver's unbeaten run but that didn't turn out to be a great night either. Any which way, beating Heidi Range is still worth something in BBU and Charlie Webster predicts another upset to close out the Mannheim card!

Mandy Capristo wearing a yellow basque top, black knickers and black gloves. Emilie Ullerup wearing red bikini set and white gloves with the national maple leaf coat of arms.

Round 1:
Emilie jumps the gun and belts away at Mandy even before the opening bell which earns her immediate backlash from the crowd but that's a good thumping series on the navel and the Canadian cracks a hooking follow up on the chest to stamp her authority and force the local star on the backfoot. Mandy weaves away from more close range shots for a while but eats an overhand right on the mouth and staggers back; Ullerup leaps at her and prevents any respite, pummels through on the rack and has the singer moaning; silences both her and the crowd with more leather on the mouth and she's really taking the fight to Mandy who's happy to clinch her late in the going to finally halt the rout.

Round 2:
More venom from the actress who just thwarts Mandy's defence early and cracks another series on the chest, ducks under a heavy right hook and bangs an uppercut on the chin herself, wobbles the singer and pounds away at her tummy thereafter, staggers Capristo before seeking more facial damage and spikes the mouth again, snaps Mandy's head back and works the single leather to the crowd's dismay as their favorite sinks on her knees and gets thrown onto the ropes with a quick cross hook, bounces off them straight into the oncoming right hand on the jaw... DOWN GOES MANDY... proud singer send spinning onto the floor and landing hard on her face... Charlie Webster's upset prediction materialises like a Gothic demon and the Canadian blonde starts to celebrate already.. but that's premature as Capristo beats the count at seven, looking misty in the eyes but refusing to fold so quickly... Ullerup's got nothing but disdain in her eyes as she jumps to finish her foe off, bounces off the forehead but fails to land a left hand on the nose as Mandy sends a spiking right hand on the ribcage and tangles with her chest, both girls lose balance but Mandy's first to regain it, throws a right hook on the nose herself and tames the Canadian onslaught; Emilie tries to break through regardless but retreats in the dying seconds as Capristo barks at her at the bell and shakes her head in disgust.

Round 3:
Mandy's still got fire in her eyes after a tough knockdown but Ullerup's all over her after the command as both girls trade furious leather and snaps each others head back, all-or-nothing early barrage finally brings success to the local singer as she slams left hook below the Canadian's eye and leaves a nasty shiner; she works on that in the second minute as Emilie begins to feel the swelling and misses her attacks, gets blocked off in close range and eats more uppercuts on the chest before trying to clinch the singer. That's to no avail as Mandy whips the left hand on the eye and snaps Ems' head back one more time before belting her at the stomach and pushing onto the ropes. Clock expires shortly afterwards to halt the comeback but Mandy's right back into this as Ullerup can't believe in that nasty cut under her eye.

Round 4:
Nadine Coyle exposed Emilie's ribs but now Mandy adds more punching resistance issues to the Canadian's resume and there's another all guns blazing attack to follow; Ems just doesn't know how to hold back and she's all over her rival early but the spiking series catches the forearms and the switch up high isn't quick enough... big left hook tags the eye in response and Ullerup wobbles to the side, tries to counter in a hurry and slips by the low guard to pound away at the stomach... Capristo refuses to step back though and cross hooks the fellow blonde over the top, nails Emilie on the nose and causes her to yelp in pain, buries a right hand on the chest and wobbles her onto the ropes for good where she just lays it into the Canadian's guts and Ullerup's all moaning at the bell with the Coyle demons staring at her in worrying fashion.

Round 5:
Emilie's slow off her stool and for once waits for the German attack but that's a questinonable tactics as Mandy surges into a precise attack over the top and splits the mitts after repeated efforts, nails Ems on the chin to finally make her drop that cumbersome approach but a flurry of leather leaves the Canadian blonde's head rocking from side to side and Mandy's yelling at her opponent as we reach the final minute with the increased ammount of leather giving her the edge; Ullerup manages to prevent getting shoved onto the ropes but gets harpooned over the top anyway and wobbles on her feet, weaves away in slight pain but lands the last noteworthy punch of the round as Capristo loses her footing after one of the hooks sliced the air and Emilie whacks her on the jaw to close out the round with both girls bumping into each other at the bell and forcing the ref to drag Ullerup away before some really ugly scenes materialise.

Round 6:
The body attack left Ullerup slow on her feet but subsequently the swelling under the right eye wasn't as exposed as Lioness coach Gina Wild wanted to see and she's urging her girl to make up for it. Mandy nods back in approval and Emilie's under a heavy barrage early in the sixth again with the fitness issues starting to come to the fore, the long absence in the ring gets badly exposed against the frequently actiive German blonde who rips leather against the tummy and forces Ems to drop her guard; switches up high and pummels the wounded eye as Ullerup is trapped in close range and suddenly leaking all the energy, bounced around on her feet and squealling in pain for a good measure. The Mannheim crowd applauds in full force as Mandy barks in her efforts to put the actress away; she throws her back onto the ropes and adds more lumps with repeated facial bashing; Ullerup's all covered up and just soaks up unanswered punishment, gets whipped onto the turnbuckle and eats one last blow on the chest just before the bell and it's a very sour pretty face staring back at the Canadian entourage with Capristo annoyed by the lack of knockdown and refusing to let her rival go despite referee's efforts to drag her away.

Round 7:
Mandy jumps into another attack having seemingly broken Emilie's resilience but the Canadian still swings couple of dangerous hooks before the German's agility enables her to weave around from trouble and counter from the side. Brutal spiking under the elbow bends Ems to the right as Mandy whacks her with the left overhand clean on the eye and whips her head back alltogether; Ullerup loses her footing and drops her arms trying to stay upright but that's all in vain as Mandy blasts a right uppercut on the jaw TO SEND HER SITTING ON THE CANVAS... crowd errupts in joy as their favorite finally earns the knockdown and Ems glances over at the ref before taking her time to get up. She's really been wasted in the last few rounds and the face shows more red and pink patches than allowed, the gash under the right eye begins to hamper her vision as well but there's no mercy after the seven count either; Capristo leans on her and starts bashing away at the face, spikes the nose and sends Ems backing into the ropes where she unloads more blows to the tummy, shattering the cumbersome defence and Ullerup's in all sorts of bother, trying to clinch her way out of trouble and offering little response, Capristo screams in anger as she splits the mitts on a repeated basis and just shoves the fellow blonde into the ropes, snaps her head back & forth but despite all the painful yelps and arms barely staying upright, the swollen faced Canadian survives until the bell albeit in a very lacklustre state and has to bend over the ropes to catch her breath, almost shot to exhuastion by the increasing ammount of German leather.

Round 8:
Mandy goes all-in showing some exceptional physical fitness after a that epic tryout against Ola Jordan; slams Emilie's ribs from the getgo in the eight as the Canadian's gets turned into a training dummy quickly and just forced to soak up all the pressure; she drops her arms again as Mandy switches low to punish the ribs but a swift uppercut hook nails her on the jaw and sends flying face-first onto the ropes with the blonde hair spinning around her neck in the proccess. Emilie tries to turn her back in time for another Capristo charge but gets tangled up and Mandy rips a right hook on the cheek that pings the Canadian against the turnbuckle... watch out... unanswered bashing on the nose drops Ullerup's head on the spot and she's all wrecked here, eyes bawling out moments later... AND DOWN SHE GOES... crumbling in the corner right at Mandy's feet and it's a whirlwind KO for the home crowd as Ems makes no effort to react to her whereabouts and the ref doesn't even bother with the count either... KO8 Mandy Capristo!!!

AFTER: Mandy's back onto winning ways in a brutal encounter against one of flyweight's most tricky opponents even though that big punch of her took some time to get going tonight. Charlie Webster concludes that no post-fight humiliation will happen since poor Ems was knocked out of her senses in the end but expects the pretty Danish-Canadian to make up for this defeat sooner rather than later: "If Emilie was with the ACB, she'd get more frequent opportunities. Her fitness woes have been exposed and she fell to an in-form rival who was very unlucky to lose to Ola Jordan, another girl in fine form lately. Whether it's the bad schedulling of her fights or just lack of a proper finishing punch, Ullerup should be considered a worthy rival for any aspiring flyweight in the business."

But the Mannheim crowd is all after Mandy who salutes them by blowing several kisses before being joined by all the tonight's local winners, Jessica Schwarz and Jeanette Biedermann. This trio led the home team into a hard-fought 3-2 success over some of the BBU's finest and the soaring reception in the media leaves Charlie Webster thinking more International Cards in Germany will happen sooner than later: "We don't even need to remind everyone one about the English/German rivalry in sports, it's maybe not like the football wars for now but I saw a massive death stare Amelle Berrabah gave Mandy Capristo at one point and once Mr Marcus does his job with Amelle & Cheryl Cole, I think we can expect these two pounding each other into exhaustion sometime in the spring!"

Final result: Mandy Capristo def. Emilie Ullerup KO8.