Malika Menard vs Joanna Krupa

Malika Menard vs Joanna Krupa
(Foxfire Atlantic Boxing, BBU Lightweight Champion vs FCBA Independent)
Results: Lookout!; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: We are live in Miami Beach - a place Warsaw-born Joanna Krupa calls her home these days - where the current BBU Lightweight champion Malika Menard will try to upset the betting odds in beach boxing rules. The French FCBA contingent has hit a dire patch compared to the Laetitia Casta and Virginie Ledoyen heyday during the previous decade and many pundits from the other side of the Atlantic think that Menard offers the best chance of reviving the "Allez les Bleus" chants even though her debut against Missy Peregrym ended in a knockout defeat back in July during the Crossover PPV.

Malika Menard wears a navy blue bikini top, white knickers and red gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a sleek ponytail. Joanna Krupa wears a yellow bikini top with white & red trim, red knickers and white gloves. Long blonde hair tied in a high ponytail. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the lightweight division.

Round 1:
The sand is kicked up thick & fast early on as both women scamper across the picturesque venue full of confidence but Malika's slightly superior reach makes it awkward for the local blonde to establish herself in the ring during the opening phase of the match. The brunette rips through the high guard with a repeated single-hand offense before sticking more jabs to the body as well. Joanna begins to wince in her pursuit efforts but gets stuck in a hole and loses her balance briefly which enables the French pageant winner to cash in with more solid hooks to the chest and reel the older model backwards. Malika shows no signs of nerves fighting on the hostile territory and underlines her dominance by crashing against the blonde's breadbasket late in the going. Krupa clinches her within the final few seconds but has to accept the negative scorecards while the Miami crowd still chants her name in numbers.

Round 2:
Malika refuses to bide her time and shows plenty of aggression that a reigning BBU champion should be proud of - no news whether Laetitia Casta is watching this one back home but she can be satisfied the new generation of Trois Couleurs is doing so well - going nearly ten rounds vs Missy Peregrym is a tough call on any rookie record. Joanna's power supply fails to find the areas and the brunette's mobility across the loose surface becomes instant problem which only fuels the French success party. More single-hand assault renders the blonde's guard obsolete and despite her best efforts, Krupa must repatedly yield real estate which dumps her onto the turnbuckle where Menard applies the leather juice and ravages the older woman's midsection as chief target. Joanna loses her temper at the bell and nearly catches her rival with a foul punch but backs off at the last moment only grazing the pageant's jug and turns back to her corner throwing thunders at the people nearby.

Round 3:
Joanna finally finds some rhythm batting overhands with the otherwise gutsy opponent. Menard shows core resilience after soaking up the aerial rush before responding in a similar manner to briefly halt the Polish charge. But neither woman hangs back here and the sand is scattered all over the place now, the ref gets a piece of the loose stuff too and calls for sunglasses during the interval to avoid the distraction. Back along the ropes, Krupa stumbles forward to eat a crisp left hook on the jaw but hammers one in on the right eye and snaps the brunette ponytail around during the second minute where she beats the former Miss France for a hectic approach and cleans out the sheets with a stubborn jabbing galore aimed at the chest. Malika can only clinch the blonde model but is shoved into the turnbuckle and allows more Polish jabs to dissect her body protection down the stretch.

Round 4:
Malika remains the faster of the two combatants and keeps Joanna in-check with another single-hand approach while the Miami-based model stumbles forward one more time and eats a quick hook to the jaw for a good measure. Krupa is eight years Menard's senior and perhaps is shows much early than anyone in Florida anticipated however there's a firm belief the Polish girl can channel that devastating power supply that wrecked havoc on the set of Desperate Housewives not so long ago. Is Krupa that desperate at this stage of the bout yet? No, she's not but she fails to embrace a late push from the French pageant and gets clobbered to the ropes with Malika looking to steer her punches at the blonde's rack and that's something that nobody saw coming in the script. Krupa is visibly annoyed with herself at the bell as she trails 39-37 after four rounds.

Round 5:
Menard keeps coming forward and doesn't want to sit on the scorecards just yet... she misjudges her initial approach this time though and eats a riffle of a hook to the nose with Krupa turning in on her with full power and adding a nasty cut over the eye with the second punch! Ugh! Malika sags on her knees for the first time tonight but leans forward looking to take advantage of the superior reach again, she misses her placement and almost twist her left ankle as she tries to turn back the other way where she finds a BRUTAL cross from the blonde that bursts her nostrils into a bloody mess! Oh la la! So much for the French assault for now as Joanna hammers in a couple of uppercuts to the jugs WHICH SEND MENARD DOWN ON HER KNEES crying out over the rack muggin' reality! "This is my backyard, froggy!", Krupa yells out her frustration as she finally exposed Malika's lack of JMDD experience and of course nobody's gonna issue a warning for the locally based woman after this one! Menard catches her breath in time to beat the count at seven but Krupa turns all jug assault after the command and clobbers the stranded brunette back to the ropes where she buries a nasty double on the solar plexus and thumps one extra on the chin to bend the French heroine sideways against the turnbuckle with eyes closed! Malika squeals in pain as she tries to break free but Krupa whacks her with another double on the nose and that's drawn more blood with Menard's spirit wilting under the Miami sun along the way. She sinks on her knees when Joanna lays into her face with more clubbing menace and virtually pounds her into a standstill with nothing coming back from the embattled pageant other than a series of painful yelps... AND THE REF STEPS IN TO HAUL KRUPA OFF HER PREY!!! TKO5 Joanna Krupa in come-from-behind fashion!!!

AFTER: This looked so good for so long - relatively long - for the BBU Lightweight champion but the brief jug assault paved the way for a Joanna Krupa comeback! Some pundits won't like this method but given what happened in the Cheryl Cole vs Emma Watson fight earlier tonight, the Polish-born model shouldn't be worried about too many negative reviews. Plus she's officially allowed to enforce whatever she wants to against Emily Ratajkowski in the New Year's Body Paint PPV which is confirmed as her next ring appearance.

Meanwhile Malika is simply melting in the Miami sun as she collapses to her bum and looks set to bury her head in that white sand. The doctors want to check up on her nasal injury but she just sits down there and stares at the sand wondering what might - and should - have been. Following the Peregrym near miss this is a massive setback to her FCBA prospects but the Foxfire Atlantic management should account for more opportunities next year. In the meantime she's poised to defend her BBU Lightweight title versus former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins in December and several European based pundits like Denise van Outen or Tom Hilton begin to wonder if she carries any Krupa hangover vibes into that very important contest on the other side of the Atlantic.

Final result: Joanna Krupa def. Malika Menard TKO5.