CBAD on DAZN: Dakota Fanning vs Sabrina Carpenter

Celebrity Boxing After Dark on DAZN
Dakota Fanning vs Sabrina Carpenter
(2-7, 2 KO vs 1-3, 1 KO)
BWO Rankings: #215 vs #112
Results: Lookout!; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: This one is for the boxing purists as two less-than-fearsome blondes are ready to prove who's who in the cheap seats of the flyweight division. Even BLONDE! Magazine questions what's the reason behind putting Dakota Fanning and Sabrina Carpenter on live & exclusive DAZN coverage but the presence of Eva Mendes in the latter's corner suggests there is some news brewing behind the scenes to be revealed later.

Back to the ring and Dakota Fanning has somehow become the ultra-forgotten woman of cinema, clearly overshadowed by her sister Elle and all this before she even turned 30 years old! For every Dove Cameron who escapes the free agency purgatory there is someone like Dakota who last tasted success almost seven years ago when she knocked out Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly fame. Woof.

Over to Sabrina and she comes in following a huge KO4 punchout of Ariana Grande which the DAZN audience was able to witness back in September. That fight was supposed to be all about Ariana's big comeback but here is Sabrina getting the recoil money instead! With Eva Mendes acting as stand-in coach to boot! Life is suddenly looking promising for the pint-sized blonde and it's clear Dakota cannot stand this at all judging by the staredown!

Sabrina Carpenter wears a white bikini set & blue gloves. Long blonde hair with bangs tied in a half-up ponytail. Dakota Fanning wears a green crop top, black hip-huggers & white gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a sleek ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the flyweight division.

Round 1:
Dakota wastes no time to steal the early thunder and she crashes several quick hooks into the fellow blonde's face which gives her enough comfort to work the aggressive side that has given Sabrina plenty of grief before. Dakota is no longer the exciting prospect from days gone by so she has to make her move but there's a reason she's ranked so low right now as she's unable to produce the superior power supply and lets the younger blonde hang in the exchanges that become more even down the stretch. Sabrina feels she's not under any serious threat from the creampuff puncher and swings back over the top to knock Fanning's head back but perhaps not quick enough to steal the round on points.

Round 2:
Sabrina lays it down from the inside and tags Dakota's chin several times; the older actress stays in the close range for a while but she struggles to connect with her jabbing efforts and finds Carpenter working on the high-intensity too much to sustain the process. She bails out into mid-range and gives the younger foe a clear comfort balance that leads into a methodical stalking down the stretch. Dakota tries to whack some good punch over the top but she's backed onto the ropes where she simply can't overpower the fellow blonde and eats more crisp shots up the middle. Sabrina gets on with the slugging charge and buries Fanning behind a desperate earmuff come the final minute.

Rounds 3 & 4:
Dakota shakes off the defensive approach and realizes she has to stamp her authority on someone who has beaten anyone except Ariana Grande after all. The quick fire pounce gives the older actress an artistic impression value during the next six minutes but Sabrina spins away from close contact often enough to frustrate Fanning in the process. BLONDE! Magazine questions whether Dakota still has what it takes to even drop Sabrina if she got her chance and she's not winning new fans with this dink & dunk punching. Sabrina defaults the scorecards to trigger some verbal antics but she still eats a nasty boomer on the eye late in the third. More chaos in the fourth until a clash of heads slows the action down and Sabrina rips a left hook on the chest to really throw Dakota off her zone. The slugging pounce resumes but Carpenter avoids major damage while making more gestures over at the Fanning corner.

Round 5:
No love lost early in fifth when Dakota gets blasted to the body and Sabrina takes over to pound her around the area until she backs her onto the ropes shortly after the one-minute mark. The older actress triggers the stalemate protocol but still gets busted in the midsection and slumps into loud spasms thereafter. Sabrina doesn't own the outright elite power so she has to work extra effort to secure the dominant position but she breaks Fanning's resilience come the final minute and the ref is kind enough to allow her sticking a forearm right into the older blonde's face as well. The pounding continues and leaks more energy from Dakota's tanks while Eva Mendes urges Sabrina to keep driling the sore midriff until Fanning completely gives up the ghost. The clock comes to the rescue but Dakota staggers back to her corner hugging her abs and she looks awfully vulnerable right now - even for her own very low standards.

Round 6:
Sabrina comes in hot and blows a quick combo into the older blonde's face before another drilling combo folds Fanning in half amid more painful spasms. She misses on locking the clinch this time and gets busted with a left hook on the solar plexus that SENDS HER DOWN FOR THE COUNT only seconds into the round. Ugh! The damage suffered before takes its toll as well so Dakota only bends her head against the boards and lets the merciless count pass her by. KO6 Sabrina Carpenter!!!

AFTER: It appears Sabrina has distanced herself from the worst creampuff challengers but it's still debatable if she's worthy of even making the Top 100 ranking. The next BWO edition should be out in early March and Sabrina catches on with Eva Mendes to confirm she'll take on the Jessica Lowndes sparring partner Shenae Grimes in the upcoming weeks: "FCBA has done well with Six Feet of Sexy (retired) before and who says it can't handle Five Feet of Fury going forward? Better me than Ariana 'frickin' Grande!"

BLONDE! Magazine suggests the rise of Dove Cameron from "cute girl" irrelevance to flyweight stardom might have something to do with Sabrina suddenly trying to make it happen again but there were other girls written off before who still carved themselves a solid celebrity boxing career against the odds. Who says it can't work out for Ms Carpenter?

Official Result: Sabrina Carpenter def. Dakota Fanning KO6.