Emily VanCamp versus Evangeline Lilly

BEFORE:

Intrastable fight is one of the most interesting on the card. Blonde Canadian vs. brunette Canadian. Longtime member of Lookout! Boxing vs. its newest member. Oh. And TEN bantamweight titles between the two of them. Yeah. This is going to be fun. But. Emily doesn't look to be having any fun in the prefight. "Look," says the blonde, "I GET that management brought her in here because we have a hole at bantam. But. The only reason we HAVE that hole is because I'M working at lightweight right now. If I were still at 120, there'd be no NEED for Evangeline, because, in case you forgot, I just BEAT her a few months ago."

Lilly, as you might imagine, feels differently. "Oh, I'll freely admit I'm not Emily's equal," says Evangeline with a hard-eyed smile. "I never HAVE been. I've always been BETTER."

ROUND ONE:

Early going sees plenty of feeling out between the two. Unlike in their previous meeting, brunette does not look to bring the physical early. Instead, she's angling, moving the feet, probing defenses. Emily, for her part, not going middle distance as she usually does. Instead, she's using her length and reach advantage to work for distance, all the better to keep Evangeline and her dangerous power at bay. Ladies working plenty hard, but not a lot of leather being traded. Instead, the round is about tactics, about seeing where you can get to and how you can get there. All that information, of course, being stored in the memory banks for use in future rounds. As for the first stanza, it's close, because, again, neither fighter is doing a ton of punching. But, when the bell rings, it's the blonde who's done more and taken the points and the 10-9 lead.

ROUND TWO:

EVC getting rolling. This range thing begins to work for her. She's picking up Lilly with the jab, holding her, following on with hard right hands. Lilly trying to angle past the left hand, but can't get there. Instead, she's out on the end of her rival's punches, which is exactly where Emily wants her. And, it's becoming apparently just how intelligently VanCamp has prepared for this thing, because Lilly had to come in here expecting what you normally see from the blonde, middle distance boxing. And, obviously, that's what she would have prepared for. But. That's not what she's getting. Instead, she's getting touched up nicely from range as VanCamp executes her strategy perfectly. So perfectly that, in the final seconds of the round, she's got Lilly backing up under a barrage of punches. At the bell, a smirk from the blonde, who then turns toward her corner to leave Lilly seething. It's EVC wide and with a 20-18 lead.

ROUND THREE:

EVC sticking with that long jab, but now Lilly's made an adjustment. She's keeping the gloves up, looking to pick off the jab, then slip inside to do some body work. And, she's able to do that in spots. Only in spots, though. Mostly, it's still Emily in control until Evangeline gets inside, rips a short left hook to the midsection that freezes the blonde and then BOOM! Right uppie and DOWN GOES VANCAMP! Emily dropped to her back and the crowd going NUTS. Lilly to a neutral corner to watch and wait. Count gets to eight before the blonde gets unsteadily to her feet. Referee gives her the mandatory, then waives on the brunette. Ugly. That's what it gets for Emily. Blonde battered back into the ropes and POUNDED by heavy shot from the brunette. She's hanging on in a high guard, trying desperately to run clock. And, while it looks like the ref may leap in at any moment, EVC does enough to keep him at bay until the bell. When it rings, Lilly's won it 10-8 to even things at 38.

ROUND FOUR:

Lilly looking to press the advantage. Able to do so a bit early, but it quickly becomes apparent that the blonde has the legs back under her as she begins banging back with heavy shot. Result is a wide-ranging firefight that eats up much of the round. Absolute bombs are exchanged between blonde and brunette, with neither willing to give an inch as they battle to impose will. Of course, with fighters of this caliber, imposing will is not exactly the easiest thing to do. And, as a result, neither Canadian manages to do it. But, that doesn't prevent them from trying. They keep hammering away, keep throwing bombs and absorbing them, all to not much effect. There's not a lot in it as the final seconds tick off the clock in the fourth, but, when the bell finally sounds, it's the early work Lilly was able to do that plays. Evangeline takes the round close to take her first lead, 48-47.

ROUND FIVE:

Things settle down a little, and we're back to where we were before the knockdown in the third. EVC is jabbing, creating space. Lilly is angling, working forward, looking to close and bang. BANG! DOWN GOES EVANGELINE! Out of nowhere, an absolute guided missile of a right hand from the blonde blows the brunette to her back. Even Emily looks a little surprised, as she's a bit slow to move to a neutral corner. And, Lilly can use all the time she can get. Brunette eventually makes it back to her feet, but not until the referee has counted nine, and she's still plenty unsteady. Ref thinks about waiving it off, but waives on VanCamp. And might immediately begin regretting it. What happens next is ugly in the extreme. Emily absolutely ABUSES Evangeline, stacking her up against the ropes and repeatedly rocking her with hard shot. Somehow, though, Lilly stays on her feet and keeps the referee at bay to the bell. It's EVC 10-8, though, and the blonde is back on top 57-56.

ROUND SIX:

EVC running rampant. Lilly's still very wobbly, and Emily takes advantage, though not full advantage. She's not able to put Evangeline back on the canvas or force the referee to put a stop to things. But. That's all she's not able to do. The rest, she accomplishes, battering the brunette around the ring for the better part of three minutes. Lilly's on 'D' almost the entire round, keeping the guard high, taking, countering here and there. It's not until the final thirty seconds that the brunette begins to firm up her defenses. By that point, the round is well lost, but, at least the older woman's able to avoid a shutout, beginning to get some offense going and even backing EVC up with a good combination just before the bell sounds. When it does, VanCamp's won another stanza, this one wide, and extended her lead to 67-65 with four to go.

ROUND SEVEN:

Emily trying press the advantage again early, but, as those last thirty seconds showed, Evangeline's legs are back, and the blonde is unable to continue dominating. Instead, Lilly holds her ground, fires back, even begins backing up the blonde. BOOM! A short right hook and EMILY IS HURT! VanCamp paying the price for pushing for a stoppage too long. And, now it's Lilly going all in, giving it to her blonde rival with both hands, driving her back into the ropes, lighting her up with hard shot. Again, the referee is looking in closely, but, this time it's Emily in deep trouble, hanging on in a high guard as Lilly punishes her. Late in the round, with the body on sale, Evangeline begins buying in bulk, ripping the ribs and mashing the midsection trying to bring down the guard. EVC keeps it high, however, and, when the bell rings, the brunette has the points wide, but the blonde is still standing and still leading 76-75.

ROUND EIGHT:

Now it's Lilly pressing the advantage, but, the difference is, the brunette can do it. The blonde's legs are still iffy, and Evangeline is able to bully her around the ring as a result, squaring her up repeatedly with hard shot to the head. Emily wobbles several times in the opening minute, putting the referee on high alert, but, VanCamp stays on her feet, and begins firming up in the second minute. Lilly still fighting lead, though, and still getting much the better of things. Emily keeping the guard high, countering in spots...BOOM! Another short right hook from Lilly and DOWN GOES VANCAMP! Emily dropped to her right side, and Evangeline not at ALL surprised, heading directly for a neutral corner to watch and wait. EVC, eyes closed, doesn't move at all for a count of five. Then, she rolls to her back, looks up, watches the referee count. But. She can do no more. It's OVER! And your winner by KO8 is Evangeline Lilly!

AFTER

Evangeline's beautiful smile on full display in the post-fight. "Yeah, that was a FIGHT in there," she says, still out of breath. "But, here's the thing. If it comes DOWN to a FIGHT between Emily and me, I'M going to win it. Not some of the time. Not MOST of the time. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Mark that down. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME."