Yvonne Strahovski versus Miranda Kerr (Lightweight Title)

BEFORE:

What a lightweight title fight ought to be, of course, is a battle between two of the very best lightweights on the planet, and there's no question this fits the bill, as brunette beauty Miranda Kerr, who is 26-3 across three different top-level organizations gets her second shot at the Unified Lightweight Championship in five months against fellow-Aussie Yvonne Strahovski, a five-time champion who likely needs only to hit the 100-fight minimum to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. And, there's an added layer of intrigue (like this fight needs one), since, ten months ago, Kerr stopped Strahovski in the ninth round. And, it's clear Miranda doesn't think anything's going to change this time around. "Oh, Vonnie's great, no question about that," the brunette beauty says, "But, I've shown that I'm every bit as good as she is, and, in fact, just a bit better."

"Yes," says a hard-eyed Yvonne, "She got me the last time. THIS time, however, I'M going to be the one getting my hand raised."

ROUND ONE:

Zero surprise as the ladies set up at range and begin with the gun-platform stuff. What you have here is a pair of tall, long-limbed fighters who can box, so it's natural that both would want to get distance and extend on their punches, and, those are exactly the terms we're fighting on in round one. And, as both fighters are comfortable fighting this way, it's also no surprise that both are pretty good at it, and, as a result, we see a good, competitive, two-way round. Things do start a bit slowly, with blonde and brunette showing both respect and caution, but, as the round moves along, both begin putting together solid combinations and scoring with both hands. There's plenty of good defense on display as well, as you might expect with two fighters as skilled as these. At the bell, there's very little in it, but Kerr's done enough to grab the points and the 10-9 lead.

ROUND TWO:

Right back to range, and both ladies begin putting on a bit of a clinic in the second. It doesn't get much better than some of what we see here. There's footwork and head and shoulder movement, excellent movement of the hands, punches slipped and blocked, feints, jabs used to set up right hands, everything and anything in the tool box being used by two well-matched fighters in an effort to gain an advantage over the other. But, no matter what arrows are pulled from the quiver, neither is able to take anything close to control. Instead, it's more excellent, two-way stuff with both Aussies giving just as well as they get. In the last thirty seconds, with absolutely nothing in it, there's a heavy exchange that goes Yvonne's way, and Strahovski is able to follow up with a solid flurry that grabs her the points and evens the fight at 19.

ROUND THREE:

More of the same. Both ladies having success, so neither is going to try to force anything. Instead, blonde and brunette right back to work with the long-range stuff. Jabs to set up right hands, feints to create space, footwork to get to spots where punching will be effective. Again, it's clinic time. Video of this could be used to teach. But, it's not just technically pleasing and not just entertaining for the purist. No, there's plenty of action here and the crowd is into it, and not just because of the stakes or the fighters. It's a good, exciting fight that just happens to be a very even one and one in which nobody's been hurt, because plenty of leather is landing and a lot of it is plenty sharp. And, for the third round in a row, there's virtually nothing in it. This time, there's no late rally, but, once again, Vonnie's done just enough to grab the points, and those points give her her first lead of the night, 29-28.

ROUND FOUR:

Right back at it. Ranged boxing. Both ladies extending on their punches, working hard with feet and hands to break down solid defenses, putting punches together, landing sharp combinations. Still, nobody hurt, despite all the heavy lea...DOWN GOES VONNIE! A perfectly executed this one-two by Kerr, following a left jab that snaps back Strahovski's head immediately with a right cross that lands in the space between the chin and the gloves created by the jab. Yvonne's legs lockup and the champion crashes to her back. Kerr quickly to a neutral corner as the referee counts over the stricken champion. Straho, head shaking on the canvas, in deep trouble, but, somehow she rolls to her belly, pushes to hands and knees and gets to her feet at nine. Mandatory follows and ON COMES MIRANDA. Kerr laying a beat down on the blonde, battering her into the ropes and absolutely THUMPING her. Yvonne hanging on desperately as the referee looks in, trying to run clock, rolling with punches, leaning back in the ropes. Miranda throwing everything she's got at the champion, trying to end this...BELL. The bell sounds and not a moment too soon. Yvonne's still on her feet, but she's a shambles. And Kerr's grabbed the lead 38-37.

ROUND FIVE:

Bad times for the Aussie blonde and her fans. Miranda's been here before, had it slip away, and is not about to have that happen again. She's got wounded Yvonne in her sights, and it's all about finishing her off. Clinically, the brunette gets to work. She's patiently setting up hard shot to head and body, backing up Straho, punishing her to both head and body, piling up points along with damage. Vonnie just trying to hang on here. She's got no legs and very little behind her punches. She's countering here and there, but what she's throwing isn't enough to trouble Miranda, who continues the onslaught with impunity. Final minute sees the champion rope bound again, Kerr working her over, even glancing at the referee a couple of times as if to ask "how much more do you want me to hurt her?" But, the champion holds on, holds off the referee, makes it to the bell. It's Kerr wide, and the challenger now leads 48-46 at the half.

ROUND SIX:

More Kerr as Miranda forces Yvonne back into the ropes almost immediately. Kerr then makes with the heavy artillery, banging away with both hands until, BOOM! It's a straight right hand and MIRANDA IS HURT! Champ pulls a perfectly-placed counter out of the bag of tricks and SMITES her fellow-Aussie with it. Kerr sent stumbling backward as Vonnie explodes off the ropes and gets the offensive going. Miranda driven before the blonde, sent to the cables and absolutely HAMMERED. Straho still doesn't have the legs all the way back, so that limits the power somewhat, but she's still piling up points and punishment with flurry after flurry of heavy leather. Kerr shipping it and staying above water, but she's clearly in trouble right to the bell. When it rings, the champion's claimed the round wide to halve the challenger's lead to 57-56.

ROUND SEVEN:

Straho back to work. Champ's legs coming around nicely and that's bad news for a still-wobbly Kerr. Miranda's on the defensive and in retreat from the opening seconds, as Vonnie, sets up hard right hands with accurateest left jabs. Brunette attempting a fighting retreat, able to land some in counter, but she's definitely getting the worst of things as Vonnie continues to buzz her with accurate fire, seemingly from everywhere. About half way in, RIGHT HAND, VONNIE and Miranda stumbles back into the ropes and nearly goes down. And, the champion goes all in. Straho emptying the magazines at her stricken rival, looking for the finisher and then landing a short right hook that cuts the power to Kerr's legs. DOWN GOES MIRANDA! Brunette falls past Strahovski's left shoulder to crash face-first to the canvas. Vonnie quickly to a neutral corner, and the referee begins to count, but it's all a formality. Kerr is OUT and it's OVER and your winner by KO7 and STILL Unified Lightweight Champion is Yvonne Strahovski!

AFTER:

Crushing result for Kerr. Brunette's gotten two bites at the apple in five months and come up short both times, and, in a division as competitive as lightweight is, who knows when the 35-year-old will get another shot? As for Yvonne, well. Was it really just six months ago that she was on a three-fight losing streak and her name was slowly dropped out of the pound-for-pound discussion? It seems like six years ago now, because there's no question who the best lightweight in the world is now, not after Vonnie just went Torv, Law, Jenner, Winstead, Perry, Kerr. "I'm not quite washed up just yet," the blonde says with a laugh. "I think there's still some gas left in the tank. And, I plan to continue rolling right along."