Clara Morgane vs Doda

Clara Morgane vs Dorota Rabczewska
(Girls Friday vs Lioness Club)
(21-8, 20 KO vs 12-2, 12 KO)
Results: BBU: Story: Vassago

BEFORE: It's safe to say this is one of the most anticipated rivalries in the BBU these days and even Denise van Outen thinks this rematch should have happened several months ago already. Clara Morgane and Dorota Rabczewska squared off in bantamweight title eliminator back in February 2016 when the Polish singer came out on top in highly controversial fashion and the two kept mouthing each other off ever since. In the so-called meantime Clara managed to win - and lose - the French bantamweight title while Doda fell short of winning the lineal divisional title outright which is something the French adult model has always found suitable for mocking her rival as former BBU champion herself.

There's no love lost between the two hellcats who can't be separated during the press conference. A wild hairpulling catfight interrupts everything and even coaches Lauren Berlingeri and Mel B. come close to trading blows as the security team tries to restore order. Denise van Outen predicts another grudge battle in the ring and one shouldn't bet against more controversy overshadowing this otherwise elite match-up.

Both Clara and Doda secured routine wins over Jaime Murray and Tulisa Contostavlos respectively earlier this season but that means nothing when personal feud is about to be settled. Rabczewska scraped through Vera Brezhneva before that and still hopes she gets another chance at the lineal title when Alesha Dixon of all people got the call from Helen Flanagan: "If I were British, I'd be the pin-up girl of the entire BBU! They keep blocking me off for no reason!", she tells Denise van Outen minutes before the fight and the BBU TV anchorwoman reminds everyone that Una Healy remains the only fighter who has silenced the loud Polish singer to date.

Clara Morgane wears a black bikini set and silver gloves. Long dark blonde hair tied in a curly ponytail. Dorota 'Doda' Rabczewska wears a red bikini top, white panties and red gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a sleek ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Heavy bombing inside the opening minute as both girls move into a head-hunting offense which wins immediate applause from the crowd. Doda whacks Clara's lips several times but soaks up a double combo on the temple and loses her footing which allows the older blonde to dominate her down the stretch. The French girl really holds nothing back as she pounces on the early opportunity which sends the Pole's ponytail flying all over the place. Ugh! Doda gets outworked in close range but can't rely on her footwork as the French attack is too accurate and too vicious to sustain. She wobbles forward and gets blasted on the chin with a nasty uppercut drive that makes Morgane gurgle in delight! She truly wants to take the singer's head off but gets carried away by the success and a moaning Rabczewska eventually clinches her into safety.

Round 2:
Clara's eyes glare with disdain as she tries to resume the head-hunting success however Doda finds her rhythm again and avoids getting laced so badly as she did in the opener. She shows improved footwork and weaves away from the close range danger before looping promising hooks over the top to sour Morgane's attacks. Both women settle down in mid-range tussle however Clara wants to close her opponent down again; she WALKS into a crunching hook on the temple instead and gets thumped back to the ropes as Rabczewska cranks up the heat and cleans out her midsection. Clara almost forgot about the low guard and gets drilled to the body as she tries to clinch the singer however Dorota bumps a knee against her thigh and almost plasters her to the turnbuckle while piercing the ribcage with her left glove. Ugh! Clara screams out at the bell and looks at the ref in disbelief but there was nothing wrong with that according to Denise van Outen in the booth. Well, that's if you ignore the knee blow....

Round 3:
Doda's agility allows her to escape a furious French rush and she loops more crosses on the counter to smack Clara's head around. The desire to get even for the 2016 defeat is understandable but Mel B.'s tactics seem to work better now that Morgane can't enforce the phone booth-like stance and gets outpunched in mid-distance. Doda might have channelled the daredevil approach several times in the past but she knows what's at stake here and the Baltic Trophy battle vs Vera Brezhneva taught her this much too. She weathers the older blonde's storm to pounce on the opportunity late and Morgane's inferior footwork begins to work against her as she can't escape a furious Polish jabbing rally that leaves her hugging the ropes at the bell.

Round 4:
Coach Lauren Berlingeri issues a tactical recall before the fourth which means Clara plays the waiting game herself now. However Rabczewska refuses to blink and both women are in maintenance mode during a lukewarm back & forth single punch trade. Denise van Outen doesn't think that's a bad idea at all, the first meeting between the two was only settled by a ninth round stoppage and a one-punch lights out KO was hardly on the cards tonight given how evenly-matched these two blondes are. Just sweep this one under the carpet and let's try again!

Round 5:
We're back to the familiar high-octane drill as Clara hauls in a promising opening punch before blasting the singer across the chest which prevents any chance of another steady counter-punching affair but also allows the French blonde to whack her foe straight up the middle. Doda has stayed clear of the JMD rules so far in her career but she eats a classic muggin' here as Morgane is no stranger to contact with another woman's mounds whatsoever. She drills the singer's rack to drop her back to the heels and finds another cruel hooking double that cuts Rabczewska above the right eye. The brawling Pole tries to escape the heat but the older blonde keeps her in check and piles more pressure from the inside that sends Dorota scowling into the ropes where she eats another nasty hooking series and slumps on her knees at the bell. That gets the Girls Friday camp going and it's still anyone's for the taking at half-distance.

Round 6:
Dorota seeks immediate redemption and that curtains the early tactical magic which annoyed the Girls Friday before. However Clara outworks her in another hectic close range tussle and begins to stack up punches to the liver area where the younger blonde proves vulnerable. Doda refuses to back off and while she lands several clean hits on her opponent's face, she sinks on jelly knees when the French attack becomes too hot to take. Morgane barges a shoulder into the singer's chest to wobble her even further and cracks a right hook/left belter to make the Pole squeal in pain. Another wild hook finds the nose AND DROPS RABCZEWSKA TO HER BACKSIDE!!! Ugh! Mel B. calls that a slip but the referee still issues the six count by which time Doda is up on her feet and shoves the poor guy away. Ugh! That's a bad idea, mind you since Morgane was ready for it and she STUNS the Pole with a rocket of a right hand that hits through on the nose and SENDS DODA CRASHING DOWN AGAIN!!! My oh my!! What on Earth just happened here? Mel B. is silenced in the Lioness corner while Lauren Berlingeri and Eva Carneiro begin to celebrate already. Doda is well and truly stunned and needs an eight count to recover. She stares at the referee this time and he checks up on her a little longer than usual. But she allows her to continue and even Clara looks surprised by this decision. The clock runs out on the speechless Girls Friday crew who thought a stoppage was a done deal! Think again my ladies!

Round 7:
"I'm OK, I'm OK!!", Doda rebuffs Mel B.'s inquiry during the break meanwhile Clara still doesn't understand how this fight was allowed to continue. She vows to finish the cheap s### off now and jumps into a frantic leather haze but Dorota weaves and ducks away from her efforts and her footwork bides her enough time to survive the initial deluge. She hardly throws a punch in the opening minute and Morgane gasses out in her pursuit with only few single punches reaching the target. She tries to tease the singer into an offensive jump and accuses her of cowardice - does Doda actually speak French to understand that though? - but she's forced to hassle around the ring and fails to connect with another meaningful punch until it's almost too late. She finally traps the backpedalling singer inside the final thirty seconds but both women settle into a lenghty ribcage assault and nearly head-butt each other wile wrestling along the ropes. And they keep hurling insults after the bell since the verbal dispute suddenly becomes more important than boxing. Denise van Outen rolls her eyes in the booth...

Round 8:
A wild scramble in the middle of the ring opens the eight and while Clara tries to piece Doda's boobs with a classic belter to the body, she eats a nasty hook on the eye that wobbles her into an uppercut follow up moments later. Apparently Rabczewska has found her groove again and bumps the fellow blonde off to beat her for a right-on-right hook before adding a left hook to the liver area. Ugh! CLARA IS HURT!!! She groans in pain and wobbles forward when she feels the pain around her liver which allows the Polish girl to WHACK her on the jaw one more time... Clara goes all wobbly butt and fails to raise her gloves in time for a monster right hook that almost breaks her nose!!! Ugh! We have blood now as Morgane's nostrils are damaged but that's not the worst news for the Girls Friday since their ex-champion GOES DOWN ON HER BUM following that nasty punch!!! "Sit down, you little c###!", Doda shakes her glove over the fallen rival and Eva Carneiro waves to the ref she wants to clean up her girl. Will Clara actually beat the count here? She does but that's one ugly looking nose right there. She gets a minimal break to wipe off the blood and Doda is half way across the ring already ready to pounce. The ref doesn't tell her to step back to the corner so Morgane gets caught in a deluge a couple of seconds earlier than she should have. And it's all bouncing off her face!!! Rabczewska rains punches like skittles and snaps the fellow blonde's head back & forth so frantically Morgane has no opportunity to defend herself anymore. She just gets destroyed out there and now the blood spills over at the referee's shirt WHO STEPS IN and saves the embattled French starlet from a proper facial reconstruction!!! Vicious TKO8 Dorota Rabczewska but the Girls Friday entourage is FURIOUS over this result!

AFTER: Clara slides down on her backside and bursts into spasms; she knows best her face just got hammered into a bloody mess but Lauren Berlingeri and Eva Carneiro are ready to riot over the allegedly premature stoppage. The referee tries to stand his ground but the loud screams and teasing from Rabczewska only make matters worse and coach Berlingeri loses her temper. She wants to jump at the Polish singer before Eva hauls her back at the last second. Mel B. also joins the fray and both camps keeps abusing each other like we're on a reality show or something. Ugh! Does anyone actually care about announcing the official result? No? How about the sobbing Morgane still sitting down on the canvas? No? It's Doda versus the world and Denise van Outen bets Una Healy has a good laugh about it back home.

To say that Clara Morgane let Dorota off the hook is an understatement. Denise believes the Girls Friday have really fumbled a golden opportunity to truly silence the obnoxious singer but then again, the Baltic Trophy brawl proved Rabczewska can escape the negative odds in more ways than one. And there's the odd controversy, knee blows and head-butts. All within the rules? The grudge special rules? Mel B. signs off the BBU TV chart: "There's no cryin' in boxing! Tell that French cow she better gets over it or we're gonna lay her to waste AGAIN!!!"

Final result: Dorota Rabczewska def. Clara Morgane TKO8.