Even though Karolina Kurkova's victory over Brooke Burns was a Main Event worthy experience itself, the real highlight of the inaugural BBU Boxing on the Beach card comes next as local favorite Malika Menard tackles the improved Elisabetta Canalis in a classic Mediterranean brawl on the French Riviera.

The former Miss France makes a much anticipated return to the ring following a very tough split decision loss to Alaina Huffman last fall which effectively ruled her out of the lightweight title contention this summer while the Italian model enjoys her official Latin Union debut tonight, having dropped off the free agency courtesy of vicious stoppage of Sam Cooke last month. Canalis is a krav-maga practicioner but has struggled to turn these skills into the boxing ring for a long while before finally mounting a positive record last year which convinced the Latin Union executives she's a better prospect for their roster than Miriam Leone. And because there's a great demand to have more BBU events on the Mediterranean coast especially in the summer months, Canalis' improvement in form came just at the right time.

Denise van Outen indicates that both women are officially poised to face Brooke Burns later this summer in more Boxing on the Beach frenzy and Malika has already voiced her intentions to strip Berenice Marlohe off the Day of Bastille crown next month as well to keep the high profile of French female celebrity boxing alive.

Elisabetta Canalis wears a red bikini top, black knickers and silver gloves. Brown hair in loose waves. Malika Menard wears a blue bikini top, white knickers and red gloves. Brown hair in loose waves. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
These girls ain't gonna hang around the ring and tear into each other straight from the bell thumping vicious leather to the body. Canalis makes the first switch and seeks facial damage but bounces off the guard and eats a repeated jabbing combo on the navel which forces her back and enables the French favorite to take command thereafter. Malika beats the older woman for an overhand follow up and smacks the brow ridge, whips immediate leather from the other side and pierces the ribcage to make Elisabetta yelp in pain already. Left hook cleans out her jaw moments later and splits the mitts for good as the Italian wobbles backwards and barely stays upright as Menard pours with another hook on the brow ridge and smacks her foe across the nose for a good measure... DOWN GOES CANALIS FLAT ON HER BACK and the Cannes crowd errupts in total madness as their national hero strikes the first knockdown... Canalis shell-shocked on her back, dusts herself off and regains composure at six but Malika just doesn't give her any respite whatsoever and is unlucky to add further damage as the Italian scampers herself all over the Cannes sand in avoidance and avoids another piercing hook by the width of the cigarrette paper.

Round 2:
Malika keeps thumping Elisabetta's guts out as she traps the Italian in the middle of the ring and whacks her across the ribcage to tame a spirited comeback attempt. Canalis was more shocked and annoyed than hurt by that opening round but she's got nothing for the French girl yet and bends to the side in wake of heavy jabbing that makes Menard moan in delight rather than anything else. Ferocious workrate from the beauty pageant reels the hitherto cumbersome model back to the ropes where she bounces off the forearms in a weak reply, fails to clinch the younger woman and eats more jabs on the brow ridge, bellows out into earmuffed defence with Malika punching her ribs at will and leaving completely overwhelmed at the bell.

Round 3:
The Latin Union management didn't expect Elisabetta's debut to start so badly but it gets even worse as Malika shatters her mitts early in the third and spikes the left brow ridge from close range. Canalis begins to yelp in pain again and her jabs on the body make no progress at all with the French brunette shrugging them off like creampuff. Head-snapping barrage sends Elisabetta onto the ropes again but before she can cover up Malika drills her jaw with another fierce uppercut and whips the Italian over the ropes with her eyes closed. Left/right combo hammers the nose and another piercing hook cuts Elisabetta up on the brow ridge causing her to shriek the loudest yet. Menard pauses briefly as her rival sags forward on the knees but only sets up more powerful uppercuts that shatter the guard and just bounce off the jaw once.. twice... bell saves Canalis from instant disaster in the middle of thta barrage but she looks badly swollen already and her left brow ridge bleeds continuously to complete the entire mess.

Round 4:
The beatdown continues, not even Denise van Outen can salvage anything for the Latin Union faithful and least does Menard who just pummels straight through the Italian's mitts and snaps her head back before switching low and just pounding Elisabetta's insides out. The older woman just can't stop moaning right now which only fuels the pageant's will to absolutely destroy her and by the two minute mark Malika has Elisabetta trapped on the turnbuckle and offering nothing back, the relentless body pounding is finally dropped inside the last forty seconds so Menard can further rearrange her opponent's face instead. She just slices the mitts at will again, opens the brow ridge wound and adds more blood flowing down Canalis' cheek, rips through on the mouth and batters the model into semi-consciousness even though Elisabetta somehow avoids going down again, that touted improvement of hers didn't come from nowhere after all. Bell is hardly heard around the Cannes beach as the rampant crowd silences it by urging Malika to kill the bout off on the spot but they'll have to wait for that just a little bit more.

Round 5:
The Italian's brow ridge is patched up again but it's almost a totally futile effort by her cutmen as Malika traps her with more overhands seconds into the fifth and just snaps the head back like she's punching a training sack, Elisabetta getting totally smoked out of Cannes here tonight, just sags on her knees and drops her arms as she can't live with the ferocious venom of the French pageant. Malika smacks her across the mouth one time too many and completes the demo job by another hook on the jaw TO SEND THE BATTERED ITALIAN CRASHING DOWN ON HER FACE with her eyes closed... "Eat all that sand, you damn cow!"... ding... ding... ding... Lights out finish to the inaugural Boxing on the Beach event as ref doesn't even bother with the count and orders for the medics to step into the ring to recover the whole of Elisabetta's numb five feet and seven inches... KO5 Malika Menard!!!

AFTER: If only the French brunette could have scored that kind of victory against Alaina Huffman last fall she'd be sitting on the BBU lightweight throne right now at the expense of Miranda Kerr! Still, she throws the gauntlet down to everyone around in the division including Berenice Marlohe and Brooke Burns. "That was just the beatdown of the year right there!", perennial blonde supporter Denise van Outen jumps on the local bandwagon probably becuase the loser wasn't exacly blonde herself but the vicious statement from Menard was made regardless of the hair color. Her upcoming fights against Marlohe and Burns could really be something for the ages!

Meanwhile the prospects don't look so bright for the fallen Italian model whose Latin Union debut ended in a complete disaster. Even though Canalis withstood some epic barrage that would have send half of the division crashing down inside three rounds, it's still not the right message to intimidate the likes of Brooke Burns. "Based on tonight's performance, the Baywatch girl should slaughter Elisabetta! But hey, I'd pay extra to see that!", Denise van Outen concludes the BBU TV coverage with her trademark blonde support while Malika is carried off on the bodyguards' shoulders to carry on partying on the Cannes beaches long into the night. And didn't she and the whole crowd deserve to celebrate that performance!

Final result: Malika Menard def. Elisabetta Canalis KO5.