Elodie Frege versus Lili Reinhart

BEFORE:

French beauty Frege is looking to bounce back after a tough loss against stablemate Lea Seydoux against the newest addition to Front Street Boxing, blonde Lili Reinhart. But, if the blonde's giving away a ton of experience to the French beauty, it isn't affecting her confidence. "This isn't new to me," says Lili speaking of a spot on the FCBA's biggest stage. "I was already here, and I already made my mark. Tonight, it's not about that. It's just about taking care of business."

"I will admit," says Elodie with a nod, "That what she has done so far has been impressive. But. She has not been in the ring with a fighter like me."

ROUND ONE:

Frenchwoman not going to play any games with Reinhart, who's already proven to have a ton of power for this weight. Instead, she goes right into the pocket, setting up along the ropes and looking to counter. Lili shows wisdom beyond her rounds. Rather than open up on her rival, setting up exactly the terms Elodie hopes to get, she's patient. She sets up her punches, works her jab, looks to create openings, doesn't force a thing. Still, it's tough sledding for the younger fighter, because Elodie is just so SOUND defensively. There's never much to swing at, and what's there disappears very, very quickly. And, as a result of that excellent defense, Frege has the better of things early. Final minute, though, is different. Blonde finds her rhythm and begins landing with some consistency. She makes up the early stagger and goes by Frege just before the bell to claim the first close and lead 10-9.

ROUND TWO:

And, NOW we see the inexperience. Lili feeling it after that final minute and she goes to WORK to start the second...and begins fighting Frege's fight. Now, the heavy guns are being fired off and the blonde's finding her punches being blocked and slipped. And, worse, she's opening herself up for sharp, accurate counters from the French beauty. And, as the round goes on, they don't get better for Reinhart, they get WORSE. The harder she works, the better the results for Elodie, who's landing sharp rejoinders in the counter. By the final minute, Frege begins backing the blonde up. Elodie then explodes off the ropes, sending Lili onto the defensive. Final thirty seconds see a back-footed Reinhart taking heavy fire from a fired-UP French beauty. At the bell, Lili's covering up as Elodie puts the finishing touches on a superb second that she takes wide to even things at 19.

ROUND THREE:

Lili hears it in the corner between rounds, nodding along with a "yes, I know. This is exactly what we talked about. Lesson learned. Won't happen again" nod. And, it doesn't. At least not in the third. Frege goes right back to the pocket to start the round, and Lili goes right back to her strategy in the first. Blonde stays patient, works the jab, takes time to set up her punches, limits counter opportunities and avoids the Frege-friendly terms of the previous round. But, just like in the first, the slick French beauty makes things hard on her younger opponent. It's nip and tuck, figuratively and literally, for the entire round, with Reinhart unable to get punches put together and Frege taking advantage of every single opportunity to punish her in the counter. At the bell, it's far closer than in the second, but it's Elodie again, grabbing her first lead of the night, 29-28.

ROUND FOUR:

Blonde back to work. She knows what she needs to do here, and, as hard as it is to hold back her normal aggression, she manages to do it. Lili stays uber sound, working on breaking down the excellent defense of the older fighter, willing to endure the slings and arrows sent her way in counter to get that done. Half way through, the patience pays off. Blonde lands a short right hand and FREGE IS HURT! Elodie wobbles and Lili goes all in immediately. French defense pays dividends for awhile, as, even buzzed as she is, the older woman is able to block or slip a lot of the incoming fire, but, eventually a straight right hands and DOWN GOES FREGE! Elodie falling to her left side along the ropes. Reinhart quickly to a neutral corner to watch and wait. But, in vain. Frege pulls herself up on the ropes at seven, and after the mandatory, Lili is waived forward. And, the second round Reinhart reemerges, letting the artillery fly and giving Elodie a thorough beating to the bell. Frege's still standing when it rings, but Lili's won the round 10-8 and now leads 38-37.

ROUND FIVE:

Reinhart starts the round patiently. Frege immediately goes to pocket and still looks buzzed, but Lili's not going to make the mistake she made in the second again. Instead, she remains circumspect, working the left hand, putting in the effort to break down her rival's defenses. Something changes after about a minute, though, when the younger fighter realizes that the French beauty's counters aren't coming as frequently or sharply. Reinhart opens up, sending flurry after flurry of heavy leather at Elodie. Again, Frege's able to avoid and block a bunch of it, but there's a lot of hard stuff getting through. BOOM! A straight right hand lands, snapping back Elodie's head and sending the Frenchwoman crashing past Lili's shoulder to nose in at her feet. This time, Reinhart doesn't bother hurrying to a neutral corner. The blonde believes she has plenty of time. And, she isn't wrong. Elodie remains unmoving on the canvas long past the count of ten. It's OVER! And your winner by KO5 is Lili Reinhart!

AFTER:

After checking on her opponent, Lili all smiles in the post-fight. "She's really slick," says the blonde with a smile. "She was an excellent test for me at this point in my career. Obviously, I still have learning to do, and I learned some things tonight. And, those will serve me well on the way to the top of this division. Because, that's EXACTLY where I'm going."