Kelly Brook versus Jessica Nigri (LW Tournament)

BEFORE:

Lightweight tournament quarterfinals feature two-time champion brunette Brook and former JMD champion Nigri. And the younger blonde has plenty of confidence entering this one. "Kelly's time has passed," says Jessica dismissively. "Sure, she can still hit, but, she's old and slow now, and will be easy pickings for an athletic fighter like ME."

"OId and slow am I," says a hard-eyed Kelly. "Well. We'll just see how old and slow I am when I beat in her ugly face."

ROUND ONE:

Brook looks old and slow. In the brunette's defense, it's more Jessica than Kelly. Nigri's fight plan is clear from the outset. She's going to move and make the older fighter chase her. Not a bad strategy against a girl who hits like Brook, and, by that, we mean "hits like a welterweight". So, instead of doing any trading, the blonde is bouncing and dancing and circling. She's snapping out the jab, catching Brook with it, then following with quick flurries before dancing away before Kelly can fire back. Brook missing a ton of punches, clearly frustrated. Can't find Nigri and, as she ups the efforts to do so, she only makes things worse, walking in to punches and being forced to cover up until, once again, the blonde dances away. Kelly does manage to land something here and there, but nothing of import. It's Jessica and very wide, indeed in the first, to take a 10-9 lead.

ROUND TWO:

Nigri continues to roll. If anything, it gets WORSE for Brook. Kelly can't get anything going at all. Instead, Jessica's bouncing around, snapping punches into her face, slipping and ducking anything the British beauty throws back at her. It's all very one-sided for the second round in a row. Kelly getting touched up, taking tons of leather to the face and body, and, as the round goes on, to the rack as well, with JMD veteran Jessica aiming for Kelly's ample targets. Brunette not just getting taken to the woodshed here, she's getting embarrassed as well, with the only thing missing being the blonde sticking out the chin and daring the brunette to hit it. Final minute of the round sees Brook flat footed in the middle of the ring, guard high, as Jessica snipes as her, splitting her guard, snapping her head back, piling up more and more points to complete a shutout and extend her lead to 20-18.

ROUND THREE:

Kelly makes an adjustment. She's no longer chasing Nigri aggressively. Now, she's stalking, cutting the ring while keeping the guard high. Nigri still landing some jabs and putting together some flurries, but, she's spending more time moving and trying to avoid Kelly now. And, she's also getting a lot more shot picked off by the brunette's guard. For the British beauty's part, she's able to trap Nigri in spots, stepping to and working body, then getting off heavy leather to the head, forcing Jessica to cover up. At one point, she pins the blonde to the ropes and piles up both hurt and points for the first time in the fight. Result is our first, competitive, two-way round of the contest. It's nip and tuck all the way, but Brook's work on the ropes proves to be the difference. At the bell, she's done jussssttt enough to claim the points and cut the blonde's lead to 29-28.

ROUND FOUR:

Mirror image of the third. Nigri all movement. Kelly carefully stalks, works the feet, cuts the ring, looks to bring power to bear. Both ladies score when they're getting what they want. Nigri landing jabs and putting together combinations in open canvas. Brunette doing her damage when she brings blonde to battle, working body, head, and, oh, yes, getting her rack on, paying back the blonde for earlier rack work. Nigri banging back in these situations at times, but mostly covering up, trying to work her way free. Jessica plenty sturdy, but she's not going to out-bang Kelly Brook and she knows it. Best practice is to keep these sessions short, and she does that to the best of her ability. All this results in another very close round, with Nigri's ranged work offsetting Brook's work in close. At the bell, there's nothing in it at all. The round is a draw, which leaves Jessica holding on to a slim 39-38 lead.

ROUND FIVE:

More of the same. Pattern now set. Both fighters finding some success with their tactics, and neither aiming to change. Nigri showing no signs of slowing after four-plus rounds of movement, still snapping the jab, still bouncing. Kelly still cutting and banging away when she can bring Jessica to battle. BOOM! Right hook, Brook! Kelly cuts the ring, goes body, then lands a BLISTERING right hook that staggers the blonde! Nigri stumbles back into the ropes and sets up in a tight earmuff, desperately hurt. And, Brook calls in the heavy artillery, thumping away at Jessica with everything she has. It's dark, dark times for the blonde, who's doing little more than hanging on and taking a THUMPING. Referee looking in closely, but Nigri, doing just enough to hold him off, survives to the bell. It's a wobbly blonde who makes her way back to the corner, but she manages to survive. For her part, the brunette has the round wide and has evened the fight at 48.

ROUND SIX:

Brook bringing the pain. A wobbly Jessica is an easy to find Jessica, and, for the first time all night, Brook doesn't have to work to bring her power to bear. Instead, she's able to square up Nigri and come forward behind her hard left jab. Jessica doesn't try to hold ground, but does try to slow the offensive with counters, mostly jabs. She does not, however, slow it much. Instead, Kelly's getting tons of leather off and a lot of it is landing. Within a minute, she's got the blonde on the ropes again, and, from there, things get ugly. Brook letting the hands go, hammering away to head, face, body, rack, punishing Nigri viciously. Jessica firing back, trying to hold her own, but she's outgunned and taking by far the worst of it. BOOM! Right hand, Kelly and DOWN GOES JESSICA! Nigri crumples past Brook's left shoulder to crash, face down, at her feet. Kelly takes her time getting back to a neutral corner. She could have taken longer. Referee counts, but the blonde never moves. It's OVER! And your winner by KO6 and on to the semi-finals is Kelly Brook!

AFTER:

"How bloody old and slow do I look now," Kelly shouts in the post-fight. "When she wakes up sometime around lunch tomorrow, feel free to ask her. Mean time, I'm going to go finish winning this tournament."