Post by girlsfriday on Feb 27, 2019 17:23:17 GMT
Vs
(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)
(Girls Friday vs Lookout! Atlantic Boxing)
Intro:
Poppy Drayton and Alice Eve begin their campaigns for 2019 here tonight, both women wanting to get into that title hunt.
Poppy is 27 years old; she stands 5'6 and holds a record of 10 wins, all by knockout with 3 defeats.
Alice is 37 years old; she stands 5'5 ΒΌ and holds a record of 8 wins, 7 by knockout, 9 defeats with 1 draw.
The fighters were interviewed in their gyms by BBU reporter Georgie Thompson, with Alice working with Nicole Ritchie on the pads, after Alice notices Georgie she gets a nod from Nicole that she can go chat to her.
"Hey Georgie; finally I am getting into fighting shape instead of just helping my stablemates get ready" says Alice as she wipes the sweat from her brow.
When Georgie asks if she has been frustrated by her lack of fight, she answers "I won't lie that I didn't, I did but it was good to see my fellow stablemates do great in the ring, now though is my time to remind you all what I can do"
She finishes up with "so Poppy better be ready because I am going to give her my all" nodding with a smile at Georgie before she goes back to training.
In Newcastle Poppy is sitting in a local cafe as she is interviewed by Georgie about the fight, Poppy finishing her coffee as she jokes "please say winter is over"
Then Poppy is asked about this fight, she says "this is I hope the beginning of a big year for me, Alice is a good fighter from bits I have seen of her, I'm hoping I'm good enough to beat her of course"
She continues "I think she'll be a lot more rusty then me, so that gives me confidence going into this, though Alice might surprise me if I don't take her serious"
The final question picks up on her hopes for the year, she answers "I've flirted on both sides of the Atlantic, I might settle down more here for fights and hope now with a new champion that I can get a shot by the end of the year" grinning as she orders another coffee, joking with Georgie about cheating her fight diet.
Fight night; out comes Poppy first with Sophia Bush and Eva Carneiro beside her, as usual she looks excited to be fighting as she heads down the aisle.
Her attire tonight is a black sports bra with white trim, matching trunks and shoes, her gloves are black with white thumbs, while her brunette hair is braided.
Getting into the ring; Poppy waves to the crowd as she jogs over to her corner, Sophia smiling to as she tells Poppy to be confident tonight.
Alice heads out now with Nicole Ritchie beside her, Alice looks relaxed as she heads straight down to the ring, nodding as she chats with Nicole on what they want from this fight.
Her attire is a navy blue sports bra, navy blue trunks with red trim, matching shoes, navy blue gloves with red thumbs, while her blonde hair is in a ponytail.
After stepping into the ring; Alice bows to each side of the ring before she heads to her corner, warming up with Nicole drilling her.
The fighters head to the center of the ring; where they stare down their opponent, noses touching as the crowd get to see how physically similar they are.
They touch their gloves respectfully when prompted, returning back to their corners to begin 10 rounds of bantamweight action.
Round 1:
A cagey start from both as they probe the others defences with single shots, Poppy looking to have the faster footwork as they move around the ring.
But it's Alice who pushes the tempo up a notch first, stepping to the inside to land two shots to her opponent's one, then moving back outside after what looks like a test run.
The next time she tries it Poppy times her coming in, the brunette landing a jab/straight combination to the face of Alice.
That seems to give confidence to Poppy to throw more punches at a time, she keeps on the move looking for different angles to strike from, then firing two or three punches that are testing the defences of Eve.
Whose time out the ring might be playing a part in why she isn't rushing to attack, instead letting Poppy dictate the pace of the fight.
As the round comes to a close; Alice surprises Poppy by landing a left cross as the younger fighter moves that direction, with the blonde stepping inside to land another two punches that snap the head back of Drayton.
The bell rings before Alice can really kick on though, with both fighters looking a bit annoyed at themselves as their coaches tell them to take more risks.
Round 2:
This time both come out looking to have a bit more fire in their bellies, standing to exchange more at the center of the ring.
Alice deflects a straight and counters with a right of her own to the face of her opponent, allowing her to step inside to land to the body.
The girls rub heads as they trade to the body, gritting their gumshields to not let their opponent hear them groan or grunt.
Poppy steps back to try to open up space, landing a double jab to the face of the blonde to keep her at range, as Poppy starts to get her rhythm going again.
But Alice slips under a jab to counter with an uppercut that opens up Poppy to an overhand left, that pushes the brunette onto her heels as Alice starts to motor forwards.
Poppy pinned behind her guard as Alice really is coming to life after a slow opening round, the round ending soon enough with Alice smiling to her coaching team as she looks relaxed now.
Round 3:
Looking to build off the last round; Alice gets into the face of Poppy to pressure her back towards the ropes, with the younger fighter needing to box off the back foot as they trade punches.
After sidestepping Alice; Poppy continues with a right to the side of her opponent's face, more punches follow to drive Eve now behind her guard.
Poppy switching up targets to make it hard for Alice to defend, she drills a right through the mitts of the older fighter to knock her head back.
With Alice forced to the ropes; where she fights back with cross punches, that forces Poppy to retreat back as she wants to keep this at range.
Poppy's footwork is allowing her to keep out of trouble as she drills Alice to the face, marking up her opponent's cheek as she dances around her.
Late in the round Alice lands a jab/straight combo, allowing her to force Poppy to slug it out as the bell rings soon enough to end the round.
Round 4:
Poppy starts looking to keep on the move; targeting the head of Alice, WHO SLIPS UNDER A RIGHT BEFORE SHE LANDS AN UPPERCUT THAT CATCHES POPPY FLUSH TO SEND HER TO HER BACK!
The Girls Friday crew look stunned as Alice pumps her right fist on her way to a neutral corner, 1...2...3... Poppy holds her jaw as she stares at the lights, 4...5...6.. Turning to her front, Poppy begins to shove her way up, 7...8... Beating the count with a shake of her head.
As soon as they are told to continue; Alice begins to hunt down the retreating Poppy, who is looking to recover from the knockdown.
Alice is able to nudge Poppy towards a set of ropes, where she gets several body shots in before she is dragged into a clinch, the referee needed to break them apart.
The blonde fighter is continuing to step forwards behind her jab, measuring up Poppy as she finds gaps in the guard of the Shannara Chronicles star.
With Poppy keeping ending up holding Alice, who is struggling to break free from the desperate Poppy, the referee needing to step in again.
The round soon ends with Alice looking supreme, she sits on her stool looking all smiles as Nicole tells her to take this opportunity with both hands.
Across the ring Poppy gets water poured over her to try to waken her up fully, Sophia tells her to focus on getting her head in the right place, trying to keep being a calm presence for her fighter.
Round 5:
Alice keeps the pressure on her opponent, stalking her around the ring with range finding punches as she doesn't want to rush things.
While Poppy has to get her legs under her, focusing on counter punching as she is being herded towards the ropes by Alice.
It's a right that snaps the head of Drayton back that opens her up to more punches, that allows Alice to knock her to the ropes.
With Poppy covering up as she is under a barrage of punches, Alice switching up her targets to try to break down Poppy, who again needs to clinch up.
After they are split apart; Alice stepping forwards seeking to land more punches up top, but she misses with a right cross as Poppy leans backwards, countering with a straight to the face.
Poppy surprises Alice with several counter shots as the older fighter tries to keep on top of things, leading to Alice getting caught with a right across her chin to make her think.
With both fighters settling behind their jabs in the dying seconds of the round, with Poppy doing enough to stop Alice charging her down like before.
The round ending with Alice still jogging back to her corner looking relaxed, Nicole washing her down as they discuss how she can go for the finish.
While Poppy's puffy looking cheeks are worked on by Eva, as Sophia tells her not to lose heart, she is good enough to turn this around.
Round 6:
Alice steps again behind her jab, as Poppy moves backwards continuing to look for counter shots, WITH ALICE MISSING A STRAIGHT SHOT AS POPPY DIPS DOWN, AN UPPERCUT SNAPS ALICE'S HEAD BACK, WITH AN OVERHAND LEFT CRACKING INTO THE SIDE OF THE BLONDE'S HEAD TO SEND HER DOWN!
Everyone at ringside looks stunned as Poppy stares down at Alice, then heads off to the neutral corner as the count begins 1...2...3... Alice shakes her head as she pulls herself to the ropes, 4...5...6.. Pulling herself up so far, 7...8.. Falling back to a knee though as she wobbles, 9...10 ending up getting counted out!
Winner Poppy Drayton KO Round 6
After:
A shocking come from behind victory for Poppy, she raises her arms up but doesn't go overboard celebrating as she knows this was far from a vintage performance for her.
Nicole meanwhile steps into the ring to check on Alice, who shakes her head in disbelief as she thought she had this in the bag.
Poppy with Sophia comes over to check on Alice after she has been helped by Nicole to her corner, all four chat with no animosity visible, with plenty of respect shown.
The fighters bump fists before Poppy and Sophia return to their corner so both fighters can be cleaned up, with both of them showing the marks of battle on show.
Once they are OK they head to the center of the ring for the final announcement, Poppy smiling warmly as her hand is raised by the referee.
Alice simply nods before turning to leave the ring, while it ended badly; there is plenty for her to be positive on, once the ring rust is taken off Alice might find some rhythm going forwards.
Inside the ring Poppy embraces Sophia and Eva, both telling her they are proud of her for overcoming the adversity she was under, Poppy admitting that this wasn't a great performance for her though.
Sophia reminding her that this is just one step in her journey, plenty more tests will come and she will overcome them believes her stablemate.
The Girls Friday crew leave the ring together, all smiles as they head up the ramp, with Poppy hoping the next fight will look better from her.