Elodie Frege vs. Margot Robbie

BEFORE:

Battle of bantams at different ends of the rankings. Robbie remains right in the title picture, while Elodie's been battling a prolonged slump. But, the French beauty remains confident. "I have had some unfortunate results, yes," Frege says with a nod, "But, I have proven I can beat top fighters. And, tonight, I will prove it again."

"You can't take this girl lightly," says Margot. "She's got some impressive scalps. Thing is, she ISN'T getting MINE."

ROUND ONE:

Margot after Elodie aggressively in the first, and Frege's fine with that. French beauty simply gives ground, backs to the ropes, and begins fighting from the pocket. And, if that bothers the Aussie beauty, you can't tell by what happens next. Robbie goes ALL IN immediately, hammering away in siege. Elodie slick, though, slipping, dipping, blocking, rolling with. Result is that most of what Margot throws either misses, is blocked, or lands in glancing fashion. And, all those punches thrown by the Aussie lead to openings for counters by the French beauty, openings Elodie uses to land solid shot. Margot's never hurt, but she IS getting the worst of things, and Elodie slowly builds out a nice lead. Final seconds of the round see Robbie FINALLY land a nice right hand that forces Frege to cover up, but, by then the damage is done. Elodie claims the first and leads 10-9.

ROUND TWO:

Margot hears it in the corner and the Aussie beauty takes that tongue-lashing to heart. She dials the aggression down some and keeps the fight in the middle of the ring. She's moving and jabbing and turning all in the service of avoiding the siege on the ropes. And, the strategy works. Frege boxes with, something she's also demonstrated an ability to do and do well. And, for two minutes, the Frenchwoman gives as good as she gets. Then, BOOM! Straight right hand from Margot and Elodie is HURT! Frege's knees shimmy and Robbie goes all in, banging away with both hands, sending Elodie into the ropes again. Frege forms the pocket, but, this time, Robbie's able to find plenty of holes in the French beauty's unsteady defenses. Aussie bangs away for the remainder of the round, piling up points and hurt and claiming the stanza wide to even things at 19.

ROUND THREE:

Robbie at Elodie immediately to start the third. Frenchwoman plays defense, backing and covering, and, soon enough, they're right back on the ropes with Frege forming the pocket. Again, Margot managing to find holes in the defenses, landing solid shot to head and body and building a lead, but, about mid-way through, Elodie has shaken the worst of the damage and she begins scoring heavily in counter. The Aussie blonde keeps the pressure on, looking for the kill shot. Looking, but not finding. And, while she's doing so, Frege's getting the better of things, landing hard shot in the openings created by Margot's aggression. The blonde's lead slowly dwindles, and, in the final seconds of the round it's down to almost nothing. Then, one big combination from the French beauty at the bell eliminates all that's left. Frege's fought all the way back to create an even round in the third, leaving the cards even as well, at 29.

ROUND FOUR:

Robbie doesn't have to be reminded about the dangers of over-aggression this time. She knows Elodie has the legs back, so she comes out jabbing and boxing. Again, Frenchwoman more than willing to box with, and, again, she shows she can do so on even terms. First two minutes of the round are a carbon copy of the first two minutes of the second. Then. BOOM! Right hand, Elodie! Frege catches the blonde with a perfectly-placed straight right and Margot is HURT! Robbie stumbles backward and nearly goes down and Elodie is all in. Frege a buzz saw, coming forward, driving the blonde back, trapping her on the cables and letting her have it to head and body. Robbie reeling, looking ready to go. Referee looking in, ready to leap in between the fighters at any second. Margot leaning back in a tight guard, hanging on desperately as Frege tries to finish. But. The French beauty runs out of time. At the bell, Robbie's still standing. It's Frege's round wide, though, and Elodie leads 39-38.

ROUND FIVE:

Frege, knowing the blonde is still buzzed, presses her advantage early. She's sitting down on punches, backing Robbie up, still looking for the elusive finisher. Margot on defense, guard high, jabbing back here and there, but mostly taking a beating. Blonde retreating, but staying off the ropes via good lateral movement. Doesn't want to be trapped there again after the last round. Frege piling up points and hurt, in total command. BOOM! Straight right hand and DOWN GOES ELODIE! Out of nowhere, Margot manages to set the feet and land a perfect right-hand counter to the chin of the French beauty, a right hand that turns the fight a complete 180! Frege blown to her back. Margot quickly to a neutral corner to watch and wait as the referee counts. Elodie looking up at him, stunned, watches as the numbers get bigger. Finally, the Frenchwoman rolls to her belly and pushes to hands and knees. She gets to her feet at eight but STUMBLES BACK TO HER KNEES! It's OVER! Elodie can't beat the count and it's OVER! And your winner by KO5 is Margot Robbie!

AFTER

Margot all about complimenting her rival in the post-fight. "This girl," she says, with a shake of the head. "She's got a TON of tools. Great defensive fighter. She can box. And she hits a LOT harder than I expected. I got her with that counter, but, man. I've fought a lot of top bantamweights. And, not many of them are any better than she is."