Post by Lookout! Boxing on Nov 25, 2023 0:54:47 GMT -6
Kiernan Shipka vs Michelle Keegan
(FCBA Independent vs Beever's Babes)
(4-9, 4 KO vs 26-38, 24 KO)
Results: Lookout!; Story: Vassago
BEFORE: Free agent Kiernan Shipka tries to knock on as many doors as possible and she's not without a puncher's chance to upset the voluptuous British actress Michelle Keegan who always sells tickets to her fights on both sides of the Atlantic. The Beevers entourage believes Shipka is there for the taking and the Vegas odds are stacked against the Chicago native who has won only one of her last five. One might argue Kiernan's best performance came on her debut against the somewhat forgotten former Front Street contender Jane Levy back in 2019!
Kiernan Shipka wears a light blue crop top, jeans shorts & black gloves. Long dyed blonde hair tied in a half-up ponytail. Michelle Keegan wears a yellow crop top, jeans shorts & red gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a curled ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the flyweight division.
Round 1:
Kiernan realizes she has to take the most out of this opportunity but her initial jabbing burst fails to trouble the brunette's flesh and the fight quickly descends into a trigger-happy exchange which is good news for the audience regardless of the outcome. Michelle lands several clean hooks on target and begins to gradually outwork the fellow actress in the process before she eats the hardest punch of the lot and wobbles to her heels enabling Shipka to run in hot with a point-blank range attack in the final minute. Woof. Michelle gets pounded back to the ropes and struggles to find a meaningful response while Kiernan only gets more aggressive even though half of her punches bounce off the Brit's forearms but that's a minor issue at this early stage of the fight anyway. Both women give each other a lenghty bytch stare after the bell and...
Round 2:
...continue to slug each other in heads up fashion to open the second round. Vintage flyweight bashing on display and Michelle knocks the free agent around once she lands a vicious double on the nose that sinks Shipka into quiet spasms. Woof. Didn't like that? How about some more? The British tourist jumps on the high-octane charge and lets the blonde have it to the tune of a couple of really nasty lumps around the lips before Kiernan gets shut down along the ropes and simply has to accept the beating. She tries to fire back and stop Keegan's charge but she's not accomplished enough to make it happen right away so the older actress keeps bashing her into a standstill to earn a wild ovation from the audience at the bell.
Round 3:
More slugging dominance from Michelle who picks the blonde's defense apart and knocks her head back & forth while searching for that slam dunk combo. She can't quite put the ailing American away but these free agents usually struggle to embrace such an emphatic attack and Shipka is no exception tonight. Michelle can bounce her around the area and cut the visibly superior figure which only adds to her confidence when she rails the subdued blonde into another trap along the ropes. The Beevers' corner feels imminient success especially when Kiernan starts bleeding from the busted up nose late in the round and stumbles onto the turnbuckle looking extremely vulnerable and almost in no position to make a full recovery. Michelle whacks her in the exposed stomach to cap off a pillar-to-post beating and sports a hugh smiles to the cameras while walking back to her corner.
Round 4:
Kiernan rallies in desperate fashion to avoid more physical damage and she finds some success working the aerial route while Michelle remains convinced she can dominate the younger actress without too much risk so she delivers a similar response much to the crowd's delight. Both women smack each other in the center of the ring before Kiernan drills a left harpoon on the liver area to catch the British foe off guard. She tries her chances punching Michelle in the boobs but that's a naive strategy against a JMD veteran and settles into drilling more of the midriff while also adding a stray elbow on the follow through. Keegan loses her patience and seeks another head-hunting combo but she can't quite punish the blonde this time and gets sucked into a body assault that eventually drives her onto the ropes as Shipka completes her recovery to raise some eyebrows in the stands. Beevers' coach Denise Lewis doesn't look worried yet though...
Round 5:
Disaster strikes early in the fifth when Michelle gets whacked on the nose a couple of times and wobbles forward to meet a brutal uppercut on the jaw that sinks her on the heels and allows Kiernan to blast her from both flanks without much resistance. Ugh! The otherwise wide advantage goes up in smoke soon afterwards when Shipka connects with more body shots and pummels the suddenly vulnerable brunette back to the ropes where she digs another elbow into her rack and then drops a lethal harpoon on the liver SENDING MICHELLE DOWN ONTO HER KNEES amid a loud gasp from the entire audience. Uh-oh!! Most of the fans & experts didn't see this finish coming at all and Michelle sits down on her heels hugging the liver and it's a shocking no-go with coach Lewis unable to embrace the result either. KO5 Kiernan Shipka in mild upset fashion!!!
AFTER: It's difficult to understand what went wrong for Michelle here since she had this fight under full control only to fumble it away against a mediocre puncher to say the very least. Even Kiernan cuts a surprised figure and admits she thought there will be more work required to knock the British tourist out but hey, it's time to cash in on this result and she's ready to spoil more odds under PPV banner: "It's not the first upset on my record and I bet it won't be the last either!" (winks).
Official Result: Kiernan Shipka def. Michelle Keegan KO5.