7. Emma Watson vs Hayden Panettiere (Flyweight Title)

(Results: Lookout!, Words: Caspian)


7. Emma Watson vs Hayden Panettiere (Flyweight Title)

Emma:
(28, 5’6, 29:22 FCBA, VIXENs)


Hayden:
(30, 5’1, 71:36:1 FCBA, Foxfire Boxing)


BEFORE:
“Heh. Everyone’s knocking on your door once you become the champion,” Emma grins at reporters during the pre-fight press conference. “It’s exhausting sometimes, having to remind all the girls of their place. Hayden, on the other hand, I have a lot of respect for. There’s a reason she’s gotten to be the challenger for the title at least three times this past year.”

“With all due respect to Emma, she’s done some amazing work rising from certain obscurity,” Hayden responds from across the room. “She’s rebounded from absolutely nothingness to being champion. But her title reign is about to end. I’m sick of playing second fiddle to girls who think I’m an easy challenge. First, it was Michelle, then Stewart. If there’s anyone I’m capable of beating, it’s gonna be Hermione Granger.”

Strong words from both corners as both champion and challenger meet in the center of the stage for the official staredown: Emma with that unnatural smirk on her face as she makes sure to hoist the Flyweight belt in Hayden’s face, with the Foxfire starlet just meeting her with a strong glare of her own.

Girls are making themselves ready in the ring an hour later, with your main event of the evening and final deciding match in this incredible stable war. It’s only fitting of course to have the title match determine who also wins the overall crown, with both stables dead even in score thus far. Emma dressed in a white sports bra, black bikini briefs as she bangs together a pair of yellow gloves. Hayden in all-blue bikini, white gloves on either hand as she prepares to steal her fourth title of her illustrious career.

HERE we go with ten rounds of Flyweight action! This here’s for the Flyweight Title!

ROUND 1:
Emma exploits a play-it-safe strategy from Hayden as the British actress immediately crosses the bulge and shocks her counterpart with a barrage of punches to her face! Hayden eats jabs early, trying to get used to Emma's incredible speed, only hits back occasionally with sharp fists to the champion's cheek, only then to receive a blitz of punches in turn. Emma fighting more aggressively after becoming the champion, pushes the shocked Hayden backwards with a continuous stream of punches. Panettiere ends the round with another one-two combo that hits clean on her nose - she just didn't do enough this opening round to match Emma's ruthless energy and not to mention, overcome Watson’s clear reach advantage, as the champion takes it wide.

ROUND 2:
Hayden adapting fast however, knows she needs to move a lot quicker and strike a whole lot harder if she stands a chance of coming out on top. She lets Watson expend her energy by keeping her frame out of range, with the champion chasing the smaller (but faster) girl with more fast flurries that only manage to sting into her arms. Emma does get in the odd grazing jab to Hayden’s cheek or body, but Hayden keeps at her strategy and soon enough, the Brit is slowing down considerably, hanging back even as the American blonde leaves her in the dust. Then, it’s Hayden’s turn to turn up heat, shocking a dazed Watson with a sudden hook to the cheek, then another quick dig into the pit of her stomach as she sends the champion groaning and retreating backwards. Hayden knows better than to give chase, however, more than satisfied for now with retaking the round wide.

ROUND 3:
Girls reach a stalemate and they slowly dance around each other’s jabs from afar. Hayden still keeps her distance, mainly blocking incoming jabs and then retaliating with sudden swerves of heavy hooks forward, hoping to catch Emma off guard again. But Watson ain’t getting caught twice in a row, shows some agility of her own as she bobs and weaves out of the way, then catches Hayden back with stiff shots straight to the middle of her face. Back and forth these two competitors go in a slow dance of death, and they each take turns punishing the other with a combination of jabs and hooks. Last minute has Hayden caught by a sudden power cross to the middle of her arms, sending the challenger flying backwards with a grunt. Not fast enough to get outta range quickly enough, and Watson blurs into her with renewed rigour - Hayden has to cover up and scram, her arms and body taking a bad beating all the way to the bell as the blonde loses out this round by a small margin.

ROUND 4:
For all of Hayden’s tenacity and smarts, that five-inch height advantage from Watson is just proving too much for her to handle. She’s trying all sorts of tactics here to even out the playing field, but Watson keeps her at bay with her longer reach, even as the blonde tries repeatedly to charge at her rival at odd intervals. Watson just too quick-witted at this early point to get ambushed by a sudden blitz like that. The Vixen is always ready with her machine-gun-like jabs as she keeps tagging Hayden on the face even as Hayden rushes in hoping to score. Hayden gets the memo after another minute of hard leather shoved into her lips. She pauses near the ropes, breathing hard, wondering how to crack the taller girl’s defences. For now, Watson all smiles as she heads back to her own corner with a hand raised high for the second round in a row.

ROUND 5:
Emma has been fighting much more aggressively ever since she captured the Flyweight straps late last year. Here she comes again, hoping to make an early statement and put away the blonde Hall-of-Famer… Hayden covers up and circles, keeps her head hidden and her body small, bending over and refusing to get herself pushed into the ropes like a bullied lamb. Watson gleefully landing shots on her frame all over, first one-two combo smacks into her forearms, then another left-right jammed hard into Hayden’s sides and ribs. But Watson gets too close for comfort, busy wailing away that she doesn’t see Hayden’s retaliation in kind: WHACK of a right hook stuns her across her face, and the Brit is left gasping in shock when another close-ranged glove NAILS her clean on the chin, and DOWN WATSON GOES!! Watson sent down to her knees early, ladies and gents, as Hayden Panettiere proves why she belongs in the freakin’ Hall-of-Fame! Watson left sputtering on all fours as she shakes her head side-to-side, tongue stuck out as though checking the temperature of the room at this turn of events! Hayden all-smiles as she watches her opponent rise back up by the count of 8, renewed confidence and light at the end of the tunnel if Emma is gonna go down so easily. If Emma was expecting an early win, well, what happened back there has surely nullified those dreams!

ROUND 6:
Watson now on the defensive as she fights off a resurgent Panettiere, who smells blood and charges! It might be now or never, folks, as one girl goes chasing after the other in a wild attempt to end this fight before it gets too drawn out. Watson of course focusing on defending her head from the attacks, but getting belted to the belly as Hayden lands whatever shots she can find instead. Watson grunts as another hard thump lands on the side of her tummy, but her guard still not faltering enough for Hayden to blast another clean one across her face. Watson holds onto her marbles for now, just trying to maintain distance and reassert that jab of hers. Only in the last minute though does the champ manage to find some breathing space, return fire to Hayden’s face as the challenger tries one more blitz attempt on her way to victory. It’s still Hayden’s round at the bell, make no mistake, but both ladies are looking hella spent by the time these three minutes are up.

ROUND 7:
All out war within the squared circle as these two Flyweights go to town on each other! Hayden tries to close distance again but finds a re energised Emma Watson putting up more of a fight this time, forcing her to switch between heavy swings and blocking the champ’s multiple jabs sent back towards her face. Watson on the other hand having regained her composure somewhat, weaving out of the way of those painful-looking hooks and then tries to overwhelm the challenger with a barrage of light jabs all over her face and body, hoping to make those painful stings add up over time. Both girls have their moments here: Hayden scores a stiff swipe across Emma’s face, for a moment thinking she might send the bigger girl down a second and final time, but Watson braces at the last moment, dodges a follow-up swing and then returns with a SWISH of her own across the blonde’s cheek, as these two take turns swiveling heads in opposite directions! Girls finally back away after this nasty dust-up, back to circling and jabbing till the end of this round. It’s an effective draw, but a worrying outcome for the champion, who expected to return the favour with a knockdown of her by this time in the fight.

ROUND 8:
Hayden, just about determined to cross the finish line and capture her fourth Flyweight title, comes out of her corner charging like a bull seeing red. Emma backing up on instinct, sort of having anticipated this mad dash after watching some of Panettiere’s other fights. As a result, a lot of Panettiere’s punches either missing or hitting the champion’s arms. The Foxfire starlet still continues targeting the body, an all-in assault as she lands stiff shots to the middle of Watson’s body, but otherwise can’t quite pin the Brit down like last time. Watson on the other hand remaining calm, returning fire with jabs landing on Hayden’s lips and nostrils, another left-right flurry further disorientating the blonde by pushing her head back sharply and stopping her advance mid-round. Hayden barely has time to cover up when she gets RATTLED by another thumping right hand to her head, which sends her spinning to the side!! UGHH! Watson is closing distance fast, but honestly it ain’t much of a challenge for the taller girl! Hayden swerves to avoid a follow-up combo to the head, but then gets FORCE-FED A BIG RIGHT CROSS STRAIGHT TO THE LIPS! ANNNNDD DOWN SHE GOOOOESSSS!! Hayden flipped off her feet, sent crashing onto her back by that number, with Watson putting in all her energy into securing a spectacular KNOCKDOWN of her own! This might be it!

Referee already hovering by Hayden’s side, starting the count, and at least Panettiere’s still blinking upwards at the stadium lights, slow test of her resolve and wits as she forces the back of her head off the canvas, then rolls onto her back and knees, before pushing herself up to shaky feet by the last count of 9! Emma caught smirking by the cameras in her own corner, thinking it’s just a matter of time before she gets her hand raised by the referee.

Unfortunately for Hayden, she still needs to survive another two minutes in there, and as expected, Watson squeezes every last second dry when the bell finally rings for the round to resume! Hayden’s corner letting out a shout of encouragement and advice for their girl, hoping Hayden will scatter and move, survive the next few minutes in order to fight another round. But Watson’s corner doing the exact same thing, and Emma knows how to herd a girl into a corner and slowly choke her oxygen out. The champ slowly ramps up the pressure, hitting one-two jabs to Hayden’s arms before quickly picking up the pace as she starts landing more and more shots on Panettiere’s battered frame. Soon, Emma’s picking off her targets left and right: another hard thumping left hand to the chest sends Hayden crashing back into the ropes, then her head’s getting snapped backwards by stiff shots landing dead center to her nostrils. Hayden groaning loud, shellshocked, one arm falling to her side, completely limp, the other draped over the top rope as the challenger completely gives up her defences in a futile effort to stay standing - AND THAT’S IT - THE REF’S SEEN ENOUGH, no choice but to JUMP IN to save her! He’s covering Hayden up and waving his hands rapidly to indicate that this match is OVER!!

Official Decision: Emma Watson defeats Hayden Panettiere via TKO8!

AFTER:
That’s it! Emma Watson secures her third title defence tonight, with Hayden Panettiere put away before she can exert all that power packed into her tiny frame! Emma with an elated raise of her hands as she celebrates with a modest spin in the center of the ring, letting down her goldilock brown hair as she parades around the four corners of the ring, her Flyweight title re-strapped firmly around her waist.

Hayden has to be helped to her feet, after having sunk back down immediately after the referee jumped in to save her prior. Now, the Foxfire starlet is groggily clutching onto the top rope to steady herself, even as her cornermates rush in to reassure her that she did her utmost best in there.

The two women later share a brief handshake and words of comfort, after the excitement in the arena finally dies down. This is, after all, the first time the two of them have faced off, and the future is still young and bright for these thirty-year-olds as they continue to make a name for themselves.

For now, the rest of Emma’s stablemates crowd around her, sharing hugs and pats on the back as the VIXENs win their first stable war of the year!