Post by Lookout! Boxing on Dec 1, 2018 0:51:28 GMT -6
Poppy Drayton vs Nicole Scherzinger
(Girls Friday vs Lioness Club of America)
(3-2, 3 KO vs 28-24, 22 KO)
Results: Lookout!; Story: Vassago
BEFORE: Poppy Drayton's FCBA PPV comeback vs Sasha Pieterse ended on a sour note last month but let's see if the Surrey-born brunette can do better when paired against a genuine veteran. Nicole Scherzinger is no longer a viable elite contender but she's a difficult match-up for any aspiring woman with a mediocre boxing record. Poppy realizes she's presented with a golden opportunity to finally make some noise on this side of the Atlantic even though she loses the pre-fight verbal exchange almost by default. Nicole argues she's not gonna waste much time dealing with "some random British tart" and acts like she's about to deliver the beating of a lifetime on poor Drayton. Lioness bantamweight trainer Eva Mendes has to calm the Hawaiian native down and some experts question Nicole's approach here - confidence is one thing, pure arrogance is another!
Poppy Drayton wears a red sports bra with black trim, matching hotpants and white gloves. Long dark brown hair with bangs tied in a sleek ponytail. Nicole Scherzinger wears a leopard print bikini top, black hotpants and silver gloves. Long raven-black hair tied in a curled ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.
Round 1:
Nicole weathers the fellow brunette's rush and keeps her in check with plucky shots to the body which Poppy struggles to embrace and wobbles onto her heels down the stretch. This fuels Nicole's jabbing rally and forces the Brit into defensive circles which apparently wasn't the plan at all given how easily Scherzinger cuts through the leaky defense. Poppy gets bumped onto the ropes and becomes desperate in overhand swings that find no flesh while enabling Nicole to cut from the inside and punish more British gut on the turn. Drayton gets swamped by the singer's methodical body assault and ends the round in a desperate clinching stalemate.
Round 2:
More of the same in the second, Poppy's sluggish execution bounces off the singer's high guard and drops her into more misery when the Hawaiian native connects with the flesh downstairs. Nicole drives it up the Brit's gut and wobbles her into spasms whereas the subsequent clinching make just about everyone in the arena upset. Drayton gets exposed as BBU cannon fodder according to Tess Valmore and she struggles to match the cougar's intensity thereafter which leads into a relentless hassle and Poppy tripping back to the ropes again. She escapes a hooking blitz at the last moment and steps away to the center of the ring but is acting scared for remainder of the round which meets a cheeky grin from the singer: "C'mon, bytch! Is that all U got?".
Round 3:
Despite the lack of proper haymakers Nicole cashes in with more dirty value as she outworks Poppy in close range before a nasty hook on the nose finally tames her progress. Drayton gets all too desperate but manages to land a couple of follow ups and belts the singer across the body which forces a defensive effort from the older brunette. Nicole's footwork still tops whatever Poppy can throw at her but the momentum shifts in the Brit's favor even though she fails to land more meaningful punches during the second minute hassle. Nicole gathers her thoughts in time for a late push but bounces off the guard too often to make a difference and eats another belting hook on the ribcage which allows Drayton to scream out in delight at the bell.
Round 4:
Both women tangle in the center of the ring where Poppy tackles the singer's midsection and hauls in several clean punches while Nicole suddenly misfires over the top and has no working room to execute her plan. She eats more gut-checking leather and Poppy almost flies with a thai boxing knee at one point which earns her the separation and drops Scherzinger into a moaning disarray when she gets WHACKED with a brutal cross on the nose. Ugh! She trips back to the ropes and Drayton's on her case thereafter; she pummels the aching singer straight up the middle to connect with the chest as well as the slumping chin before another vicious belter finds the liver area and leaves the Hawaiian stunner crippled at the bell.
Round 5:
Poppy's gung-ho approach proves too much for the aching singer early in the fifth and here's where the age difference begins to show on the heels of a truly big round from the British actress. She smacks through Scherzinger's high guard repeatedly in the opening minute before adding the ribcage stinger to glue the older brunette to the spot. Nicole tries to hassle her way through on the inside but eats more hooks on the jaw instead and gets pounded back to the ropes where she can't embrace the high-octane jabbing anymore. She stumbles to the side and bursts into spasms when Drayton piles more gut pressure to run away with the action late. Ugh! Nicole hugs her ribcage at the bell and can barely make it into her corner where coach Mendes literally slaps her over the head with a towel.
Round 6:
The wheels have come off the Hawaiian's challenge and she gets punished to the body early in the sixth again with Poppy pounding away like her FCBA career was on the line tonight. She DRILLS the singer's liver area with several brutal attempts and has the fellow brunette fish-tailing all over the place. The footwork deserts the ex-dancer and as she tries to swing for a desperate haymaker, she gets CRUSHED with a brutal hook on the ear instead AND DROPS FACE-DOWN AT THE CANVAS with a loud whimper of surrender. Ugh! The count reaches six before the ref realizes she's a no-go! KO6 Poppy Drayton!!!
AFTER: This is a huge win for the British crossover who celebrates dancing around the downed foe. A loss here and Poppy's American's foray might have been shut down by Girls Friday according to some rumours back in Europe. Meanwhile the arrow keeps pointing down for Nicole who struggles to make any sort of impact outside of the beach boxing genre. With Nina Dobrev in-tow, the LCA bantamweight situation looks solid however there's no real back-up stability with Minka Kelly slumping in her own right. Perhaps cutting Scherzinger's dead weight and promoting Selena Gomez will solve this problem going forward?
Official result: Poppy Drayton def. Nicole Scherzinger KO6.