Tori Kelly (Beevers) v Nadine Coyle (Lioness)

Tori has been late to enter the world of celebrity boxing, the 5 feet 4 inch American beauty now just weeks from her 30th birthday, and she debuts tonight in Kilburn, West London before a partisan Irish audience, who will be willing the taller 37 year old Derry Girl Nadine Coyle to improve on her record of winning 9 out of 34 fights, and she will need to use her height and reach advantages to outgun the powerful looking debutante



There’s no animosity between the girls, although Nadine is giving Tori some words of discouragement, telling her, “I’m about to wreck your face, you nobody!”



Round 1



Despite her pre-fight aggression, Nadine’s looking a bit slow once the girls are called into action, but Tori’s started well, making a good impression on the more neutral fightfans, looking cool, neat and tidy behind her left jab, and there’s a bit of swagger about her as she gives Nadine a couple of deep punches to her body, but by the middle of the round Nadine has settled, and she’s trying to use her height and reach to keep the younger girl at bay, and she’s looking pretty good as the round progresses, her jab starting to scuff up the blonde babe’s cheeks, Tori not looking so cocky at the bell, Nadine finding her face a little too easily for comfort, her Irish supporters encouraging her



Round 2



After settling into her task by the end of the opening round, there’s more good early work from Nadine in the second, the early exchanges seeing her hurting Tori with her accurate jabs and a neat right cross to follow up. The younger girl’s struggling to land punches on the taller Irish babe, and her inexperience shows as she swings and misses, looking untidy, so that Nadine’s quietly working her to a neutral corner, where she’s clipping her face with either hand, and poor Tori’s face is beginning to lump up around her cheekbones, the Irish girl very much teaching her a lesson in this round, until she hits Nadine to her body and the younger girl starts to recover, ignoring the swelling under her left eye as she puts pressure on Nadine in the closing seconds



Round 3



Both girls land good punches in a fierce exchange in the opening seconds of round three, and this sees Tori getting the better of Nadine, staggering her with a left hook, but she’s not quite got the ringcraft to follow up her good start, and that’s allowed Nadine to recover a little, although it appears that she’s been weakened, and now she misses with a couple of punches, looking a little tired and untidy, whereas Tori is getting her confidence back, getting through to her older opponent with good punches to her ribs and belly, Nadine’s face showing her that she’s hurt her there as she screws her eyes tight shut, Tori looking good in the closing seconds as she moves Nadine backwards into a neutral corner, but she runs out of time to make her new superiority count



Round 4



Nadine has been blowing hard between the rounds, but she attacks Tori straight away, and sends the blonde to the ropes, hits her, and keeps her there, and she’s landed a really good left cross, her glove really squashing Tori’s pretty face, and the Irish girl has cut the American’s right eye, and this could be bad news for Tori, as Nadine lands more good shots on her, but the older girl can’t put her away, and she’s beginning to tire as time ticks by in this round, Tori beginning to get back into the fight now as we get to the closing stages, and she’s just rocked Nadine with her left hook to her jaw, sending the Irish girl skittering into the ropes, the bell ringing just as Tori tries to give her another of those shots



Round 5



Tori’s looking much aggressive now, trying to knock Nadine down with big punches, but that’s playing into Nadine’s hands, the taller girl able to pick the blonde off very easily, using her ringcraft and experience to take the initiative, her jabs opening her cut right eye again, with the blood dribbling down her right cheek, luckily away from her eye, the cut beginning to bother the debutante though, so that Tori is looking vulnerable, and she steps back and back until she’s backed into the ropes, where the wily fox Nadine gives her a neat two-fisted beating, Tori sagging at the knees as she takes a lot of punches, but luckily for her, Nadine’s just lacking the punching power to finish the job, and that allows Tori to get a toehold in the round late on, as she comes back with good, strength sapping bodypunches on the older girl



Round 6



Nadine looks rather red in the face now, as both girls land punches early in a hard exchange, with Tori’s left hook swatting Nadine’s face more regularly than before, and immediately the Irish girl’s bleeding from her nose and lips as the American looks to step up the pace and close this fight out before her damaged eye closes, with the older girl Nadine looking more and more tired, and she’s fairly static as we again get to the closing stages of the round, whereas Tori seems to still be full of energy, and now the pretty young blonde hurts Nadine to her body again, the Irish babe writhing, her jaw dropping as she gets pretty much hammered up close and personal



Round 7



Nadine is visibly slower now, and Tori’s seizing her chance, ripping a few hard punches into the Derry Girl’s body, Nadine squealing, in real trouble, her arms dropping, but Tori’s taking her time though, and she seems to have learned from her earlier mistakes, the blonde babe sizing the taller girl up, thus a couple of deep straight punches into her belly, then she cracks home a ripping cross uppercut, which sends Nadine down hard, the poor girl’s head bouncing off the canvas as she lands, and there’s no need to count over her – she’s out!



Result: Tori Kelly knocked out Nadine Coyle in round 7



How good is Tori Kelly? The jury is still out, because she got caught by an ageing journeygirl here, although she’s certainly got a good punch on her