Post by Lookout! Boxing on May 29, 2021 2:28:42 GMT -6
Anya Taylor-Joy vs Emily Bett Rickards
(Writing: LMW / Results: Lookout!)
Anya Taylor-Joy
(25, 5’7, 8-1 FCBA, League of Mighty Women)
Emily Bett Rickards
(29, 5’5, 13-9 FCBA, Medallion Boxing)
Pre-Fight: The League of Mighty Women’s rising star Anya Taylor-Joy will be facing Medallion Boxing’s Emily Bett Rickards as both fighters want to add to their winning starts to this year. Anya has been the more active of the two as she started this year with her new stable and won three fights; while Emily won her only fight this year to make sure that she held her spot in the Top 50.
Anya is first up during the pre-fight press conference. “I’m happy with how I’m progressing so far and I definitely look forward to this matchup. Emily will be my first Top 50 opponent since I came back this year and I’m up for the challenge. I must say that the atmosphere is less tense than it has been in the past couple of press conferences that I was part of, but I’m sure it will be an intense fight nonetheless. She has an aggressive style in the ring, but fortunately I have been taking care of such fighters lately, so I’m ready for her.”
After listening to Anya’s comments with a confident smile on her face, Emily goes for her own remarks. “I made a good start to this year and set my goals high for the rest of it. I don’t really care about who I’m facing, because my focus is on getting a shot at the gold this year and I’m ready to beat anyone who stands in my way. Anya, you might have beaten some low quality fighters that are aggressive, but I’m at a different level and trust me, you’re not ready for me!”
They stare each other down with confident looks on their faces as the press conference comes to an end without any further action as both fighters looked ready to settle it in the ring.
On fight night, Anya comes out first with her coach Summer Glau beside her. She waves to the crowd as they cheer for her. She blows a kiss to the fans after entering the ring and then goes over to her corner to go through her warming up routine.
She is wearing a baby blue sports bra, matching trunks, gloves and shoes, while her hair is tied into a ponytail.
Emily comes out next with her coach accompanying her. She pumps up her fists on her way to the ring as the crowd cheers for her. After entering the ring, she starts shadow boxing at her own corner.
She is wearing an all-black fighting attire of sports bra, trunks, gloves and shoes, while her hair is also tied into a ponytail.
The referee calls both fighters to the center of the ring for final instructions. They touch gloves afterwards and then go back to their corners as we are ready for the bell to start this 10 round bantamweight fight!
Fight: Round 1: Staying true to her style, Emily comes out aggressively and immediately rushes towards her opponent. Expecting this to happen, Anya starts with a defensive stance as she tends to do against aggressive opponents, so that she can utilize her reach and footwork, not only to defend, but also to counterattack. However, compared to other aggressive fighters she faced, Emily is always on the look for cutting angles to force exchanges as well, so Anya ends up needing to fight her way out of them. When she gets in range, Emily dips her head and goes for a hook to the body first and then goes up top for a one-two combo. Anya answers with a couple of jabs, but she is not landing them as cleanly as her opponent.
Emily keeps up the pressure throughout the round and even if she cannot get Anya in any significant trouble, she ends up landing more punches than her opponent and wins the round with a small margin. Anya doesn’t seem bothered by the outcome either as she might be thinking that she survived the early pressure without giving any big openings.
Round 2: Emily immediately goes back to putting pressure on her opponent with the bell. She is still changing levels as she attacks the body first and uses the small opening to go up top with her short combinations. Anya is still in a defensive stance as she tries to answer Emily’s attacks with some jabs and one-two combinations of her own. First two minutes of the round goes this way as both fighters seem content with the way things are going, but it favors Emily in terms of points so far.
As we enter the last minute and it seemed like we would have a repeat of the first round, Emily aggressively cuts an angle in hopes to trap her opponent in the corner, but Anya sees it coming, sidesteps and lands a lead uppercut to Emily’s ribs. As Emily winces, Anya follows it with another uppercut to the midsection and then goes up top with a left hook to the chin. Before Emily can react, Anya rotates and gives her opponent a shoulder bump to trap her in the corner instead. Emily gets trapped, but she shakes off the effects of the initial attack and puts her guard up tight, so Anya cannot land her jabs and straights clearly. After a moment Emily fights back with a double jab-straight combination. Anya steps back to avoid any of them from landing, but Emily uses this opening to get out of the corner.
Things were going well for Emily in the first two minutes, but she got a bit too aggressive at the end and got caught by Anya’s counter offense. With that exchange in the end, instead of Emily winning narrowly, Anya ends up winning the round in style.
Round 3: Emily isn’t as willing to rush her opponent this round after what happened at the end of the previous one, so she is taking a more cautious approach now. Anya doesn’t seem to be willing to go for a more attacking mindset just yet either, so we have an uncharacteristically quiet opening to this round from these two. They engage in some short exchanges from the outside and register some hits throughout the round, but neither can land a significant shot that would put their opponent in trouble. There isn’t really much to separate the two fighters in this round, so it will probably go down as a draw.
Round 4: Looks like Emily didn’t like the lack of action in the previous round, so she is back to her aggressive approach in this round, while Anya patiently sticks with her tactical approach of having a defensive stance and looking for counters. Anya’s patience pays off as we are getting to the one minute mark of the round, when she catches Emily with a nice cross during her approach. That punch not only stops Emily on her tracks, but it also gives an opening for Anya to land a left hook and then go down to the body with a couple of shovel hooks to Emily’s abs. Emily is able to get out of there without suffering further damage, but it puts her back to being more cautious of her opponent’s attacks. Anya uses this change in style to her advantage as she goes on offense herself by forcing exchanges from the outside with jab-straight combos.
Anya ends up controlling the action for the majority of the round and while Emily puts together some good combos in the last minute, it is just too little too late. It is another comfortable win for Anya as she starts to pull away on points from Emily on the scorecard.
Round 5: Anya must be feeling more comfortable with going on the attack after the last round, but Emily is not backing down either, which leads to a very active start to this round. They stand at the center of the ring and trade as each land some clean shots both to the body and to the head. Surprisingly, Emily is the first to take a step back from this exchange as it looks like she needs to recover from her opponent’s shots and take a breather for a moment. Anya keeps the pressure, but she is still being careful as well, so she uses short combinations while chasing Emily around the ring.
As we are entering the final minute of the round, Anya starts to apply even more pressure as she is looking to force some exchanges with a confident look on her face. As she steps in for a one-two combo up top, Emily ducks and throws an overhand. It lands hard on Anya’s cheek and stuns her for a moment, which is all that Emily needed as she starts pushing her opponent back with a double jab-straight combo. That overhand clearly bothered Anya as she is now blinking to clear her vision, while getting pushed back towards the ropes. Emily goes to the body to change things up with two hooks to the ribs and then changes levels again to hit a one-two combo. With her back to the ropes, Anya tries to clinch but Emily pushes her back to the ropes and hits her with a couple of hooks to the body. Emily continues applying pressure with combinations, but Anya defends it well and even scores with a couple of counter punches. Emily ends up landing a few more good shots with her opponent stuck at the ropes, but Anya gets saved by the bell. Emily taunts her opponent by waving goodbye with a smile on her face, hinting at things to come, while Anya just glares at her before turning away and heading over to her corner.
What a turn of events at the end of the round! It is a big win for Emily as she closes the gap on the scorecard and seems to be in control. She is looking happy in her corner after her aggressive style finally paid off in that round. At the opposite corner, they are applying an enswell under Anya’s right eye, which started to swell after that big overhand.
Round 6: Emily seems to be on a mission to end what she started last round, as she rushes forward to her opponent right away. Anya has her guard up high and tight to protect that swelling under her eye, so Emily starts with some straights to the midsection. Anya quickly backs away and starts to circle, but Emily aggressively tries to cut angles so that she can trap her opponent and force another lengthy exchange. She gets a bit careless though and Anya immediately punishes that carelessness with a double jab-straight combo. Emily tries to hit back with a combo of her own, but Anya ducks and lands a left hook to the ribs and an uppercut to the solar plexus that hurts Emily. Anya sees the opportunity and goes for it with a left hook to the chin and a big right cross that drops Emily onto her back! Anya goes over to the neutral corner and the referee starts the count. 1…2…3… Emily raises her head off the canvas and blinks to clear her vision 4…5…she sits up and plants her hands to her sides, getting ready to stand 6…7… she stands up and steadies herself 8… the referee checks her up and wipes her gloves before restarting the action.
Emily still looks a bit hurt as she is slow on her feet and swinging sluggishly, so Anya avoids these shots easily and then lands two hooks to force Emily to the ropes. Anya hits her opponent’s body with a barrage of hooks and straights, which drops Emily’s guard down. Seeing this, Anya switches her focus and lands an uppercut to Emily’s chin that takes out the last bit of fight in her. With Emily still propped up by the ropes, Anya looks over to the referee, but not seeing any action being taken, she blasts her with a hook that makes Emily sway limply to her right, which finally prompts the referee to step in and wave the fight off!
Official Result: Winner via TKO in round 6, Anya Taylor-Joy!
Post-Fight: Anya waves at Emily, mimicking what she did at the end of the previous round, but she is not really in a position to register that at the moment, so Anya quickly loses interest and turns away to celebrate with her fists raised. On the other side, both the referee and Emily’s coach help her back to her stool, where the medical team checks up on her. She needs a minute to recover, but she eventually gets the thumbs up from the doctor.
Anya gets her hand raised by the referee and she gets the microphone for her post-fight remarks. “I’m glad to make it four wins in a row with my new stable. Things got a bit scary back in the fifth, but otherwise I was in control and was able to handle Emily’s aggressive style pretty well. It is an important win for me and yes there was a bit of a taunting at the end of the fifth and then I returned the favor, but I respect Emily and I think we put on a nice spectacle for the fans!” With that she waves and blows kisses to the cheering crowd.
As she said, it is a big win for Anya against a fighter who is ranked in the Top 50, so with this, she will be continuing her climb through the ranks. It is a tough loss for Emily, but there is still time for her to put up a good run this year, if she can turn things around in her next fight.
(Writing: LMW / Results: Lookout!)
Anya Taylor-Joy
(25, 5’7, 8-1 FCBA, League of Mighty Women)
Emily Bett Rickards
(29, 5’5, 13-9 FCBA, Medallion Boxing)
Pre-Fight: The League of Mighty Women’s rising star Anya Taylor-Joy will be facing Medallion Boxing’s Emily Bett Rickards as both fighters want to add to their winning starts to this year. Anya has been the more active of the two as she started this year with her new stable and won three fights; while Emily won her only fight this year to make sure that she held her spot in the Top 50.
Anya is first up during the pre-fight press conference. “I’m happy with how I’m progressing so far and I definitely look forward to this matchup. Emily will be my first Top 50 opponent since I came back this year and I’m up for the challenge. I must say that the atmosphere is less tense than it has been in the past couple of press conferences that I was part of, but I’m sure it will be an intense fight nonetheless. She has an aggressive style in the ring, but fortunately I have been taking care of such fighters lately, so I’m ready for her.”
After listening to Anya’s comments with a confident smile on her face, Emily goes for her own remarks. “I made a good start to this year and set my goals high for the rest of it. I don’t really care about who I’m facing, because my focus is on getting a shot at the gold this year and I’m ready to beat anyone who stands in my way. Anya, you might have beaten some low quality fighters that are aggressive, but I’m at a different level and trust me, you’re not ready for me!”
They stare each other down with confident looks on their faces as the press conference comes to an end without any further action as both fighters looked ready to settle it in the ring.
On fight night, Anya comes out first with her coach Summer Glau beside her. She waves to the crowd as they cheer for her. She blows a kiss to the fans after entering the ring and then goes over to her corner to go through her warming up routine.
She is wearing a baby blue sports bra, matching trunks, gloves and shoes, while her hair is tied into a ponytail.
Emily comes out next with her coach accompanying her. She pumps up her fists on her way to the ring as the crowd cheers for her. After entering the ring, she starts shadow boxing at her own corner.
She is wearing an all-black fighting attire of sports bra, trunks, gloves and shoes, while her hair is also tied into a ponytail.
The referee calls both fighters to the center of the ring for final instructions. They touch gloves afterwards and then go back to their corners as we are ready for the bell to start this 10 round bantamweight fight!
Fight: Round 1: Staying true to her style, Emily comes out aggressively and immediately rushes towards her opponent. Expecting this to happen, Anya starts with a defensive stance as she tends to do against aggressive opponents, so that she can utilize her reach and footwork, not only to defend, but also to counterattack. However, compared to other aggressive fighters she faced, Emily is always on the look for cutting angles to force exchanges as well, so Anya ends up needing to fight her way out of them. When she gets in range, Emily dips her head and goes for a hook to the body first and then goes up top for a one-two combo. Anya answers with a couple of jabs, but she is not landing them as cleanly as her opponent.
Emily keeps up the pressure throughout the round and even if she cannot get Anya in any significant trouble, she ends up landing more punches than her opponent and wins the round with a small margin. Anya doesn’t seem bothered by the outcome either as she might be thinking that she survived the early pressure without giving any big openings.
Round 2: Emily immediately goes back to putting pressure on her opponent with the bell. She is still changing levels as she attacks the body first and uses the small opening to go up top with her short combinations. Anya is still in a defensive stance as she tries to answer Emily’s attacks with some jabs and one-two combinations of her own. First two minutes of the round goes this way as both fighters seem content with the way things are going, but it favors Emily in terms of points so far.
As we enter the last minute and it seemed like we would have a repeat of the first round, Emily aggressively cuts an angle in hopes to trap her opponent in the corner, but Anya sees it coming, sidesteps and lands a lead uppercut to Emily’s ribs. As Emily winces, Anya follows it with another uppercut to the midsection and then goes up top with a left hook to the chin. Before Emily can react, Anya rotates and gives her opponent a shoulder bump to trap her in the corner instead. Emily gets trapped, but she shakes off the effects of the initial attack and puts her guard up tight, so Anya cannot land her jabs and straights clearly. After a moment Emily fights back with a double jab-straight combination. Anya steps back to avoid any of them from landing, but Emily uses this opening to get out of the corner.
Things were going well for Emily in the first two minutes, but she got a bit too aggressive at the end and got caught by Anya’s counter offense. With that exchange in the end, instead of Emily winning narrowly, Anya ends up winning the round in style.
Round 3: Emily isn’t as willing to rush her opponent this round after what happened at the end of the previous one, so she is taking a more cautious approach now. Anya doesn’t seem to be willing to go for a more attacking mindset just yet either, so we have an uncharacteristically quiet opening to this round from these two. They engage in some short exchanges from the outside and register some hits throughout the round, but neither can land a significant shot that would put their opponent in trouble. There isn’t really much to separate the two fighters in this round, so it will probably go down as a draw.
Round 4: Looks like Emily didn’t like the lack of action in the previous round, so she is back to her aggressive approach in this round, while Anya patiently sticks with her tactical approach of having a defensive stance and looking for counters. Anya’s patience pays off as we are getting to the one minute mark of the round, when she catches Emily with a nice cross during her approach. That punch not only stops Emily on her tracks, but it also gives an opening for Anya to land a left hook and then go down to the body with a couple of shovel hooks to Emily’s abs. Emily is able to get out of there without suffering further damage, but it puts her back to being more cautious of her opponent’s attacks. Anya uses this change in style to her advantage as she goes on offense herself by forcing exchanges from the outside with jab-straight combos.
Anya ends up controlling the action for the majority of the round and while Emily puts together some good combos in the last minute, it is just too little too late. It is another comfortable win for Anya as she starts to pull away on points from Emily on the scorecard.
Round 5: Anya must be feeling more comfortable with going on the attack after the last round, but Emily is not backing down either, which leads to a very active start to this round. They stand at the center of the ring and trade as each land some clean shots both to the body and to the head. Surprisingly, Emily is the first to take a step back from this exchange as it looks like she needs to recover from her opponent’s shots and take a breather for a moment. Anya keeps the pressure, but she is still being careful as well, so she uses short combinations while chasing Emily around the ring.
As we are entering the final minute of the round, Anya starts to apply even more pressure as she is looking to force some exchanges with a confident look on her face. As she steps in for a one-two combo up top, Emily ducks and throws an overhand. It lands hard on Anya’s cheek and stuns her for a moment, which is all that Emily needed as she starts pushing her opponent back with a double jab-straight combo. That overhand clearly bothered Anya as she is now blinking to clear her vision, while getting pushed back towards the ropes. Emily goes to the body to change things up with two hooks to the ribs and then changes levels again to hit a one-two combo. With her back to the ropes, Anya tries to clinch but Emily pushes her back to the ropes and hits her with a couple of hooks to the body. Emily continues applying pressure with combinations, but Anya defends it well and even scores with a couple of counter punches. Emily ends up landing a few more good shots with her opponent stuck at the ropes, but Anya gets saved by the bell. Emily taunts her opponent by waving goodbye with a smile on her face, hinting at things to come, while Anya just glares at her before turning away and heading over to her corner.
What a turn of events at the end of the round! It is a big win for Emily as she closes the gap on the scorecard and seems to be in control. She is looking happy in her corner after her aggressive style finally paid off in that round. At the opposite corner, they are applying an enswell under Anya’s right eye, which started to swell after that big overhand.
Round 6: Emily seems to be on a mission to end what she started last round, as she rushes forward to her opponent right away. Anya has her guard up high and tight to protect that swelling under her eye, so Emily starts with some straights to the midsection. Anya quickly backs away and starts to circle, but Emily aggressively tries to cut angles so that she can trap her opponent and force another lengthy exchange. She gets a bit careless though and Anya immediately punishes that carelessness with a double jab-straight combo. Emily tries to hit back with a combo of her own, but Anya ducks and lands a left hook to the ribs and an uppercut to the solar plexus that hurts Emily. Anya sees the opportunity and goes for it with a left hook to the chin and a big right cross that drops Emily onto her back! Anya goes over to the neutral corner and the referee starts the count. 1…2…3… Emily raises her head off the canvas and blinks to clear her vision 4…5…she sits up and plants her hands to her sides, getting ready to stand 6…7… she stands up and steadies herself 8… the referee checks her up and wipes her gloves before restarting the action.
Emily still looks a bit hurt as she is slow on her feet and swinging sluggishly, so Anya avoids these shots easily and then lands two hooks to force Emily to the ropes. Anya hits her opponent’s body with a barrage of hooks and straights, which drops Emily’s guard down. Seeing this, Anya switches her focus and lands an uppercut to Emily’s chin that takes out the last bit of fight in her. With Emily still propped up by the ropes, Anya looks over to the referee, but not seeing any action being taken, she blasts her with a hook that makes Emily sway limply to her right, which finally prompts the referee to step in and wave the fight off!
Official Result: Winner via TKO in round 6, Anya Taylor-Joy!
Post-Fight: Anya waves at Emily, mimicking what she did at the end of the previous round, but she is not really in a position to register that at the moment, so Anya quickly loses interest and turns away to celebrate with her fists raised. On the other side, both the referee and Emily’s coach help her back to her stool, where the medical team checks up on her. She needs a minute to recover, but she eventually gets the thumbs up from the doctor.
Anya gets her hand raised by the referee and she gets the microphone for her post-fight remarks. “I’m glad to make it four wins in a row with my new stable. Things got a bit scary back in the fifth, but otherwise I was in control and was able to handle Emily’s aggressive style pretty well. It is an important win for me and yes there was a bit of a taunting at the end of the fifth and then I returned the favor, but I respect Emily and I think we put on a nice spectacle for the fans!” With that she waves and blows kisses to the cheering crowd.
As she said, it is a big win for Anya against a fighter who is ranked in the Top 50, so with this, she will be continuing her climb through the ranks. It is a tough loss for Emily, but there is still time for her to put up a good run this year, if she can turn things around in her next fight.