Sara Sampaio vs. Miriam Leone

BEFORE:

Rematch between a pair of European beauties who've met once before, in a BBU fight. Sara won that one by TKO, but, if Miriam is to be believed, well. "Oh, she got lucky, no question of that," says the Italian beauty. "I was giving her a beating and she got lucky and got help from the referee. Well. There will be NO help for her tonight."

Sara, as you might expect, sees things differently. "I beat her once," says the Portuguese stunner. "And, I'll beat her again."

ROUND ONE:

No surprises early. Both fighters want what worked for them the first time around. Miriam has some reach, and the Italian wants to work at range, go all gun platform on Sara. Sampaio, however, has seen this movie before. She has no intention of staying out on the end of Miriam's punches. Instead, she works forward, gets inside the Italian's guard, and works body. And, on THESE terms, Sara's the one who gets the better of things. Leone tries to bang back with her in spots, ties her up when she can, does everything in the bag of tricks to get some space. But. Sampaio isn't giving her any, and that's causing problems. As the round goes on, Sara takes more and more control, working body, head, back to the body, piling up points and dings to Leone's awesome chassis. When the bell finally rings, it's Sara and wide, to take the early 10-9 lead.

ROUND TWO:

Miriam makes some adjustments. She's moving more and better, giving a little ground with a drop step, making Sara work harder to close. And, in so doing, the Italian is giving herself more time to get punches on and stop the Portuguese beauty's advances. It all works beautifully. Now, Sara's getting stopped with the jab, left hanging where the Italian can drop right hands on her, and pile up both points and hurt. Sampaio keeps coming forward, but she's paying a price for it. A heavy one. She's not hurt, but she's definitely getting touched up and picked up as Leone controls things with that long left hand. Late in the round, Miriam begins backing her rival up with hard flurries. Sara's thrown completely to the defensive, covering up and taking heavy fire. By the time the bell rings, the Italian has turned things around completely, taking the second as wide as Sara took the first, and evening things at 19.

ROUND THREE:

More adjustments. Sara angling more, keeping the hands up and the head tucked, trying to pick off the jab, then slip inside it to get to Leone's body. Miriam working just as hard to prevent that, doubling up the jab, circling, giving ground with that drop step. Result is that neither fighter gets all of what she wants, or, in fact, enough of what she wants for her liking. Instead, both Italian beauty and Portuguese stunner have to take full advantage of the opportunities they get to work on favorable terms. And, both do. At range, Miriam's putting punches together, scoring points. Inside, Sara's LATHERING Italian frame while mixing in hard shots to the head. It's the first competitive round of the contest, and it's competitive from the first second to the last. When the bell rings, there's not a lot in it, but there's enough, enough for the Italian to take the points and her first lead at 29-28.

ROUND FOUR:

More of the same. We've settled into a battle to dictate terms, as each fighter realizes that, if she can be the one doing the dictating, she's also going to be the one winning the rounds and the fight. So, efforts are redoubled. The athletic Leone moving very well, snapping out that jab, following on with rights when she lands it, scoring as much as she can at range and making every effort to stay there. Sampaio, for her part, using every trick at her disposal to get past the Italian defenses and into that body. And, when she does, she makes serious hay, committing on every punch to both body and head, piling up as much punishment as she possibly can. Once again, it's plenty competitive, with neither fighter able to gain much of an edge. But, once again, there's enough in it at the bell for one fighter to claim points. And, this time it's Sara, who evens things at 38.;

ROUND FIVE:

Excellent work from both fighters early with Sara getting in close and thumping away for about 30 seconds before Miriam can tie her up force a break, and then get to work on the gun platform, putting together solid combinations and, once again, throwing Sampaio onto the defensive. Italian looks to follow up like she did in the second, coming forward and committing on her punches, backing up the Portuguese beauty with heavy leather. BOOM! Right hand counter by SARA! And Miriam is ROCKED! Leone stumbles backward as Sampaio switches out of reverse and pours forward, throwing absolute BOMBS at the Italian beauty. Miriam wobbling, listing, GOING DOWN! Leone crumpling to her left side under the weight of all the shot she's just taken. Sampaio to a neutral corner to watch and wait. Miriam struggling to rise. Makes it to all fours, but NO FURTHER. The count passes her by and it's OVER! And your winner by KO5 is Sara Sampaio!

AFTER:

Sara all smiles in the post fight. "I told you," she says, with a grin. "I beat her once, and I beat her again, and I'll beat her every time we fight, because I'm just BETTER. That's all there is to it. I'm BETTER. And I proved it again."