Nina Dobrev vs Anya Taylor-Joy

Nina Dobrev vs Anya Taylor-Joy
(Lioness Club of America vs League of Mighty Women)
(56-30-1, 48 KO vs 10-1, 10 KO
Results: Lookout!; Story: Vassago

BEFORE: "So, Anya thinks she's the new household name in the movies? Golden Globes and all that jazz? 10-1 in the ring as well? She's having a good spell alright but can we please delay crowning her ass before I can do something about it?", Nina Dobrev sets the record straight ahead of a PPV fight that could well and truly elevate Anya Taylor-Joy into immediate bantamweight title picture. Beating Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Love Hewitt was good, knocking out Naomi Scott on the New Blood undercard even better but this is the first elite test for the 'Queen's Gambit' wonder. And she'll need more than a sharp mind tonight to overcome The CW legend like Dobrev according to most pundits.

Nina Dobrev wears a purple bikini set with black trim & silver gloves. Long dark brown hair tied in a curled ponytail. Anya Taylor-Joy wears a green crop top, matching hip-huggers & black gloves. Long dyed blonde hair tied in a braid. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the bantamweight division.

Round 1:
Nina sets the early jabbing tone but fails to work around Anya's stubborn high-guard before getting more aggressive when she realizes her opponent won't engage in a slugging drill to open the action. The judges might favor such an approach but Anya escapes genuine punishment while showing off superior footwork to leave the brunette slicing thin air down the stretch. Nina stays in the slugging lane but keeps missing with her combo efforts and gets blasted over the top when Anya finally decides to swing back at the hitherto dominant foe. A couple of good shots land on Nina's cheeks but she bangs a right hand on the chest to make Anya scream out in sudden pain before a lenghty clinch stymies a cagey opening round for good.

Round 2:
Taylor-Joy sticks to her counter-punching ideas and takes advantage of Dobrev getting carried away with the initial jabbing delivery. She smacks the older woman with repeated single strikes and glues those mitts into Nina's face before blasting a rare harpoon on the liver area just past the one-minute mark. Nina usually looks very agile across the boards but Anya just takes her mobility into another level and slips by several half-hearted attempts from the 'Bulgarian Badass' before checking her down with supreme counter-punching skills. Ugh! Nina gets stuck in the center of the ring and has the dancing Anya spraying leather from both flanks for remainder of the round.

Round 3:
More of the same in the third, Anya owns the supreme mobility and renders Nina late with most of her slugging efforts. The counter-punching blast is ruthless and effective and quickly glues Dobrev to the spot which allows the blonde to stretch her elbows in dominant performance. Ugh! Guess Anya is really ready for prime-time, huh? She makes Nina look obsolete and downright chaotic come the final minute. Wild head-hunting swings miss the intended target by miles while Taylor-Joy easily picks off the lacklustre brunette from afar before chopping a steady harpoon series on the midsection that drops Dobrev sideways on the ropes come the bell.

Round 4:
Nina tries to overcome Anya's superior mobility and snaps her head back with a good hooking series but she gains advantage only because the blonde seems to back off into mid-distance instead of accepting the brunette's slugging tactics. Nina does well to bounce Anya around the ring but lacks the big haymaker breakthrough and falls into a clinching stalemate when Taylor-Joy runs out of real estate in the second minute. Both women wrestle for supremacy along the ropes before Nina spikes the blonde's midsection and dominates the final stretch with more accurate body shots Anya simply can't embrace well enough to limit the losses.

Round 5:
More gut-checking action from Dobrev who makes sure Anya feels the action downstairs before clobbering her on the chest as well. Anya bails out into mid-range but yields more real estate as she's unable to stop the brunette from coming at her. The counter-punching response isn't there either which allows Nina to pick her targets and she makes more progress thumping the blonde's mindriff when she backs her onto the ropes. Anya plugs a quick response on the breasts but gets shut down in the corner as Dobrev piles more hard leather into her guts which leaves Taylor-Joy slumped in visible discomfort for the first time tonight.

Round 6:
Nina believes she's weathered all the best Anya could throw at her but suddenly the blonde jumps into rapid-fire assault and bangs away into the brunette's face tearing a small gash under the left eye before Dobrev can gather her thoughts! Anya flips the tactical switch and lays it into the Canadian's face in hardcore fashion while backing her onto the ropes as the older actress is unable to tame the head-hunting assault and doesn't have the mobility to deke away from danger either. Taylor-Joy thumps her onto the turnbuckle and snaps the head back until Nina rips a left cross on the nose that finally halts the blonde's run; both women lock each other in a lenghty clinch afterwards and that's good news for Dobrev who needs to have a couple of these lumps patched up during the interval.

Round 7:
Anya flies in over the top again and blows Nina's high-guard aside while working on speed dial to snap her head back. Ugh! LCA coach Eva Mendes completely mismanaged the tactical change and her screams are somewhat futile now as Nina gets her face bashed in swarming nightmare before Anya shoves the stunned foe onto the ropes and belts her with a huge bomb on the liver. Oi, Nina!!! Even one of the fittest women in the entire FCBA can't survive that punch! DOWN GOES DOBREV crashing on her knees before bending her head against the canvas!!! Uh-oh!!! Anya blows a kiss to the camera and walks slowly back to LMW corner however she got Nina good and she knows it. There's no way back for the Canadian woman who remains down on all fours when the merciless count passes her by. KO7 Anya Taylor-Joy!!!

AFTER: This should be a result that puts Anya in serious contention going forward! She was ranked #27 in the last Boxing World Online edition but will shoot up the charts according to most pundits inside the arena. And one might argue she did it using the boxing gambit of sorts, those counter-punching experts don't grow on trees after all. Shocked faces in the LCA corner instead, Eva Mendes can't quite believe how Anya decked Nina in the end: "She did nothing for five rounds and then it was over. What the hell just happened here?"

Official Result: Anya Taylor-Joy def. Nina Dobrev KO7.