Katheryn Winnick vs Eva Mendes

Katheryn Winnick vs Eva Mendes
(The Dollhouse vs Lioness Club of America)
(1-0, 1 KO vs 30-20-1, 25 KO)
Results: Lookout; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: Several pundits have questioned the reasons behind Katheryn Winnick's arrival in the FCBA but her mighty debut performance versus compatriot Laura Vandervoort has silenced the critics for the time being. Nobody should underestimate the Canadian cougar by default and Lioness Club's Eva Mendes understands that policy while fending off retirement talk in her own right. A recent victory over Angelina Jolie apparently didn't convince the unconvinced that the former bantamweight champion still has gas in the tank left yet she vows to ignore the bad press and just keep going forward until she's kicked out by the stable executives.

Katheryn Winnick wears a white sports bra with black trim, matching hotpants and white gloves with black "Venum" wording. Long blonde hair tied in a curly ponytail. Eva Mendes wears her trademark leopard print bikini top, black knickers and red gloves. Long dark brown hair wrapped in a loose bun at the back of her head. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Mendes gets off to a fast start and jabs straight up the middle to reel the blonde on her heels before a well-measured hook connects with the chin and puts Winnick into instant trouble. There's some Latin temper at display early as Mendes just picks off the fellow cougar from point-blank range and pounds Winnick back to the ropes where she isn't so effective anymore but still fends off the clinching ideas and sinks Katheryn behind a high earmuff with another vicious hook. It's obvious Eva fancies a quick destruction of the Canadian veteran but the lack of a proper haymaker derails her plan to score an emphatic success so early in this bout. Moreover Winnick manages to clinch the brunette come the final stretch and prevent further trouble.

Round 2:
Both women trade punches in phone booth-like fashion and Katheryn must be credited with a good recovery following that really poor opener. She neutralizes Mendes' superior reach and connects with the temples which then forces the brunette back seemingly to pursue a better striking range. However Eva fails to achieve her target when the blonde switches downstairs and thumps her exposed ribcage to pummel her towards the ropes in the proccess. The overhand response misses Winnick's head and the sluggish execution caves Mendes is for good come the final minute. Katheryn takes advantage of that defensive retreat and hauls in more promising hooks upstairs but again, the lack of big power hitting allows the targeted woman to escape serious trouble.

Round 3:
BIG PUNCH MENDES!!! She whacks the blonde newcomer with a scything cross on the mouth and that's the strike most of the audience was waiting for, heck, even the Latin babe herself is surprised she reeled her opponent backwards with just a single effort. Katheryn's defense remains a great unknown based on the minimal action tape yet that was worryingly how she simply checked out when Eva tested the strenght of her lips. The brunette actress jumps into a steady jabbing pursuit and pummels the backpedalling blonde around the ropes before she finally traps her in the neutral corner when Katheryn seemed to get tired and just bellowed out in a dangerous spot. Mendes duly makes her pay for the performance weakness and snaps her head back with more crisp striking that eventually leads into a lenghty moaning struggle from the embattled Canadian. The bell saves The Dollhouse pride here and Eva shakes her glove straight into the blonde's face!

Round 4:
Coach Kristanna Loken orders a defensive tactics to get Winnick back into the mix but no boxing fan likes to see one woman drag her rival all over the ring in a wrestling stalemate. How about simply throwing some punches? Either The Dollhouse crew bailed out after stumbling upon the first hurdle or they want to test Eva's patience and perhaps lure her into a short fuse trap. Whatever the case, it's barely working come the second minute when Mendes breaks herself free of the clinch and whacks the Canadian over the top to reel her onto the ropes down the stretch. Winnick still tries to make it competitive when she's forced to engage in a proper punchfest and rallies back into contention when the brunette loses her balance and wobbles forward to meet a nasty uppercut on the jaw. Ugh! Eva gets stuck on her heels when she eats a swift follow up and Katheryn stands tall to haul in a couple of nasty hooks on the temples come the bell.

Round 5:
Eva jumps into a jabbing frenzy but her footwork lets her down which leads into a period of cutting thin air; she simply can't match the smaller woman who ignites some speed into her movements and makes the brunette lose her balance again before a left/right combo crashes into Mendes' cheeks. Ugh! The guard drops slightly but that's enough for Katheryn to deliver a hooking blast on the nose and when Eva wobbles forward with a quiet whimper, a left hook nails her on the brow ridge and triggers the jelly knees mode. Mendes' guard is all gone as she tries to stay upright but she finds no time to escape a swift drilling shot on the solar plexus that is followed by another left hook on the nose. AND MENDES GOES DOWN ON HER BACK!!! The Canadian veteran combined some rough punches during a furious stretch and even though the Latin vixen gets up at eight and a change, her eyes look a bit hollow and the referee shockingly orders a stoppage! LCA's head trainer Claudia Schiffer tries to argue the decision but her plea falls on deaf ears and it's TKO5 Katheryn Winnick!!!

AFTER: One could say this wasn't the case of Katheryn winning but Eva losing and the brunette's punching resistance was indeed woefully exposed in the fifth round. Claudia Schiffer denies the Lioness underestimated Winnick's skillset but the shocking demise of the former champion and the see-saw nature of the entire fight suggests some tactical errors were made by the Bradenton-based stable. This won't exactly bother The Dollhouse entourage though as they've navigated the Canadian veteran into a second career victory and apparently the Winnick critics will remain silent for few more weeks to come - unlike Carmen Electra who's making noise on social media literally minutes following this fight.

Final result: Katheryn Winnick def. Eva Mendes TKO5.