Both girls are outwardly oozing confidence despite questions about their most recent outings. Theron had struggled to a narrower than expected decision over Jennifer Garner in an 8 rounder; while the unease regarding Beyonce centered more on the quality - or lack thereof - of her competition. Instead of working her way up the ladder facing veterans or real contenders, Beyonce chose as her tune-up fight before Theron to showcase her "power" against a raw rookie, Mandy Moore. Those fights, on the same weekend just over a month ago, were perceived by the antagonists and their managers as table setters for their personal battle to follow.

For Theron, a much more experienced and, so far, more accomplished boxer than the younger Knowles, the Garner fight had been intended to demonstrate to the world, and specifically to Beyonce, that, after a series of struggling fights over more than year, (most notably an exhausting draw against her one time lover and long-time rival, the past-her-prime slugger Cat Bell, followed by a stunning KO at the hands of Cameron Diaz, and then a split-decision win over lightly regarded supermodel Naomi Campbell) Charlize nevertheless remains a serious contender despite rampant rumors that her boxing skills - but more importantly her desire - were are the wane. Despite struggling in the last few fights, Charlize went into the eight round bout against Carey, a fighter whose own career had stalled after KO losses to both Cat Bell and Debbe Dunning) as the a solid betting favorite. Privately and publicly, the leggy blonde noting that she'd stopped both Bell and Dunning herself in past bouts, breezily disregarding the draw in her latest Bell fight - and that she'd predicted an early round knockout of Garner who has seemed to lose her way after some early success in her boxing career.

Instead, what Theron got, after dominating Garner in the early going, was a fourth round chin corker that folded those long lovely legs, and put the favored blonde on her butt for a shocking 8 count. Theron got off the canvas and held on, although not adding to, the early lead, heading into the final rounds. But Charlize had seemed a little heavy, still shedding weight from her latest film role, going into the Garner bout; and the added pounds, not to mention the young brunettes fresher legs, took a toll in the late going with the winded blonde fading badly as Garner came on in the last two stanzas to make it a close fight. By the end of the eighth and final round, Charlize was spent, clinging to Garner's pumping arms, unable to answer while Jennifer mugged her along the ropes with a two fisted barrage.

It ended with the willowy brunette throwing her arms up in triumph at the bell, thinking she'd done enough to snatch a come from behind win from the more experienced blonde whom she'd left draped over the corner ropes while Charlize weavied to her corner on "shot" legs and sagged into her handlers arms, completely exhausted. The split decision, announced to more than a smattering of boos, went to the more experienced blonde. If Charlize intended this bout to dispel doubts about the direction her fight career was headed, the way this bout ended with Theron fading badly and being used as a punching bag in the final round by a less experienced foe, only reinforced the doubts and left boxing fans questioning her ability to put away foes, her toughness, her endurance and indeed, questioning everything about the lanky blonde, except her still radiant beauty. Some went as far as hinting her glory days were clearly over; and it would be all downhill from there, despite her split decision victory.

Beyonce's fight against teen dream, Mandy Moore, the very next day was Knowles chance to bust out, batter a young, inexperienced foe into oblivion, and seize the spotlight from Theron after Charlize's fade against Garner. Indeed, Beyonce accomplished most of that; stopping the raw, woefully over-matched, Mandy Moore, in the third round but not before Moore landed a wild swinging left hook in the opening exchange that wobbled the ever advancing Black beauty and further exposed a somewhat suspect jaw on Beyonce who had visited the canvas at least once in three of her first five fights - although all five bouts were victories! But, even though reporters were falling all over themselves praising Beyonce's KO prowess after the Moore dispatch, Theron, who watched from ringside, sniffed to all who'd listen that Knowles was "picking on rookie fluff." She even went so far as to insinuate, in a follow-up interview with 'Celebrity Fight Magazine,' that not only was Moore mere "rookie fluff', but that Beyonce's hand-picked first five foes were all either similar "fluff" or in her words, "inexperienced bimbos who couldn't punch their way out of a wet paper bag or over-the-hill has-beens or never-were's."

Presumably, Theron considered foes like Christina Aguilera (a 2nd round KO victim of Knowles in the debut fight for both) in the former fluff category, and mediocre veteran Mariah Carey (KO'd by Beyonce in 4) both in the "over-the-hill" or "never-were" category. But neither label could cover the aging, formerly great, Madonna who became a last minute KO victim of Beyonce; or the once top contender and still solid vet, Halle Berry, who lost a narrow split-decision to Beyonce in the fight immediately preceding Knowles' dispatch of the young but outgunned Moore.

Typically Theron, ever cool and determined to get her point across, slyly observed in the same interview such tidbits as:

1) "Madonna? Gawd, how old is that bitch anyhow, 85?... She oughta be fighting Beyonce's grandma for crying out loud;" or

2) "Berry, she stopped being taken seriously by good fighters after she dropped that 10 pounds... oh, she's still damn pretty but too emaciated; her punch is gone; well, almost gone; but still she had Beyonce down twice in their fight;' and finally,

3) "No, Beyonce's gotta knockout somebody more substantial than that young bimbo, Mandy Moore, before she'll be taken seriously in the fight game. Right now she's a raw talent who hits hard, but can't take a punch very well. I'll pick her apart, no question about it."

So these were the questions in both camps as fight day neared. Was Charlize through as a big time fighter? She couldn't put away Jennifer Garner, despite having her in big early trouble, then seemed to fold up her tent in the late rounds when Mariah worked inside - much as Beyonce, who by all accounts is a more powerful puncher than Garner, is expected to do.

Just as many questions dogged Knowles, however, first and foremost being (as a Theron insider joked before the fight) "How many taps on that porcelain jaw does it take to turn out the lights on that bootylicious fraud?" And then, answering her own mocking question, she answered, "Charlize will let us know; you can count on it. I'm guessing ONE good right hand oughta do it... Beyonce hasn't fought anybody near the caliber of Charlize."

Theron obviously was gunning to test that suspect jaw, using her greater height, reach and experience to do so. Beyonce's goal was clear; protect her chin and work inside using her powerful legs and strong arms to wear the taller but slender blonde down and make her quit. Not lacking for confidence despite her relative inexperience and questionable competition so far, Beyonce made no bones about what she was thinking, " I'm going to get close to that tall bitch and work her body over. I don't think she can match my strength, no one here can. I'm going to beat the fight out of that long body, keep pounding it until she refuses to go on - or can't. I don't really care which it is!" Beyonce further boasts, "I know she'll try to run once she realizes she's made a mistake getting in the ring with me, but she can't run from me. I'll cut off the ring, pin her on the ropes and then take her apart one punch at a time."

Asked about her thoughts when shown the tape of Beyonce's interview, Theron seemed to go pale briefly before recovering and saying she'd let her fists do her talking. Still, she "guaranteed" she'd be the one who walked out of the ring the winner. It was a much more subdued response than Beyonce's borderline cocky remarks; but those close to Theron allowed as how she was quietly confident of victory and had never looked better in the last week of sparring. With more money pouring in late on the tall blonde, she went off as the 3 to 2 betting favorite at fight time.

FIGHT NIGHT
Charlize is seething with anger as she stares across the ring at her young black adversary, noting Beyonce's heavy legs and fleshy back, with a sneer, "How dare she insult me like that in front of my fans." Charlize's thoughts harken back to Beyonce's pre-match interviews... "I'm going to make her pay, she's going out now!" the blonde mutters as she slaps her gloves together. Her mind rages with thoughts of revenge for the perceived outrage and she barely hears as her manager droning on about feeling Knowles out and seeing what she has, moving on her toes, changing directions, working angles, using her jab to set up the right, taking her time, using her reach advantage...etc., etc.

"She's heard it all before," Charlize thinks as she awaits the bell; watching Knowles stretching and waving to her fans. "She's not even looking at me, like I'm not even here!" the tall slender blonde thinks. "Well, get ready fat ass, here comes your wake-up call!"

Theron decked out in her customary cream string bikini; the thong bottom showing her fabulous creamy butt cheeks, the triangular cups so small they can barely contain even her small, firm, perky breasts. Beyonce is wearing a metallic gold bikini that provides full coverage of her bootylicious butt and sturdy cups to support her full breasts!

ROUND ONE
Charlize is out fast at the bell, meeting Knowles just as she turns and gets her gloves up. Charlize is all over her, smothering the shorter Black girl under a blanket of wild lefts and rights thrown from every angle. Beyonce's taking and trying to move away, guard up, ear-muffing her head as the blonde blasts away, hitting Beyonce, everywhere, but most landing on her arms and gloves as Knowles does a good job of covering up that suspect jaw of hers. As the younger fighter backs away, she's able to take some off the few punches that the blonde manages to get through the gloves, Knowles head rocks back as Theron connects with a good right, then leans into a hard left that lands very low, bending a grimacing Beyonce forward. Charlize just keeps coming in, venting her pre-match anger at Beyonce's cocky remarks in a furious assault; she seems to have only one gear, that being straight ahead. Knowles, a little shaken by Charlize's early aggressiveness, if not seriously hurt by any punches yet, tries to grab while Charlize keeps trying to get off punches to her sides as she leans in, planting those dancer's legs as she attempts to muscle the sturdy black girl bacj into the corner.

They lock up, grunting and wrestling along the ropes until the ref comes over and makes them break. As they separate, there's a look of shock on Beyonce's face; obviously Theron's mad rush was not what she expected! Just as soon as the ref moves back Charlize is on top of Knowles again, going like a machine gun; though not landing any real hard punches the sheer volume has Knowles backing up. It's crowd pleasing toe-to-toe action as both girls bang down stairs without respite. Charlize seems to waver after a huge right to the gut, then straightens and hammers a hard upper-cut between Beyonce's arms that lands flush on Beyonce's chin! She staggers loose-legged and a bit woozily to the corner and Charlize seizes the opening as she follows with a determined look. Somehow, the stunned young girl manages to move enough to slip two more shots the blonde hoped to end the show with, then comes firing back with a little right that clips Charlize's chin. Surprised, the blonde steps back to gather herself, but then she comes right back in, hammering Beyonce back hard against the turnbuckle.

With her glistening backside pinned to the post, Beyonce seems a little unnerved, unleashing a hard low right in panicked response that digs into blonde belly. Charlize's shapely legs dip, then stiffen as she hammers a left off the black girls head. War breaks out! It's fast and furious; hard to tell what's really happening as both dig in and swing away. The crowd on it's feet, cheering wildly as they see the blonde take one step back, then another as Knowles slashes her way out of the corner, her hard fists ripping up the blonde's gut and ribs. A hard straight shot to the solar plexus seems to stun Theron who gasps and staggers back toward the center of the ring with her gloves down.

Time is running down on a first round filled with furious action but Beyonce sees the opening and cracks a hard left to the side of the blonde's head, followed by a straight right that catches Theron flush on the chin sending her mouthpiece flying! The big South African beauty's long, lithe legs seem to short-circuit as she starts to break down in stages; dropping first to her knees, then leaning forward, trying to brace herself with her right arm which buckles under her own weight as she continues to crumble forward, flopping facefirst to the mat; laying with that beautiful round butt jutting up like a mountain peak eagerly awaiting Beyonce to 'plant the flag.'

Beyonce, let's out a scream of raw, lustful joy as she sees the big blonde nose-dive into the canvas at her feet. That bootylicious swagger, having disappeared early as Theron swarmed all over her, returns to the beautiful young black woman now as she 'accidentally' stomps on Theron's back as she 'stumbles' forward on her way to a neutral corner. The pressure bringing a soft groan from the flattened blonde. Beyonce, leaning back against the turnbuckle beaming in delight, her fans screaming their approval, as she watches Charlize struggling to get up. At three, Theron is back to her hands and knees, shaking her head, trying to clear the cobwebs. The count drones on, "...four....five...." as Charlize seems to crawl then almost collapses again. " ..six....seven...." The blonde reaches for the ropes and manages to pull herself to her feet. "....eight..." Knowles claps her gloves, still grinning at her success, as Charlize seems to sway on rubbery legs while the ref checks to make sure Charlize knows where she is, then fumbles to replace her mouth piece after the blonde mumbles some response and gives a woozy nod. With the referee's wave, Beyonce bores back in, looking to do more damage but now Theron's not so eager to engage and there's a smattering of boos as the taller blonde almost runs away, going into 'safety-first' mode, determined to avoid contact! Even with the long-legged blonde in full retreat, Knowles still manages to corral the blonde with ten seconds left and with Theron's gloves at her jaw, Beyonce hammer's the blonde's belly as she desperately tries to cover up as best she can. At the bell, Beyonce has her girl pinned, chesting her back, screaming threats and insults at the wobbly blonde, holding her trapped, bent back over the top rope until the ref manages to pry them apart.

As Knowles struts to her corner, gloves high over her head like a conquering queen, her fans screaming in approval, Theron, now free, shuffles in the opposite direction, head and gloves down, clearly relieved to get a break in the action.

She flops down hard on her stool. takes in some water, as her manager berates her, "I told you a hundred time not to get into a slugging match with that bitch, and what do you do!! Goddamit Charlize, she damn near took your head off.... Now listen to me and fight like we planned or I'm going to throw in the towel.. do you hear me?" she rants.

"Yeah, you're right" Charlize admits between gasps for breath. "Just tell me how to win, I've gotta win!"

It's clear, as Charlize slumps on her stool between rounds, her head bowed with an ice pack on her jaw where the punch that floored her landed, her arms slung limp over the middle ropes, her long legs out straight, her sweat-streaked thighs trembling, that she's been both humbled and hurt by the round end beating laid on her. She'd come in quietly confident - at least publicly - letting the brash young Beyonce do the mouthing off. The regal blonde seemed almost arrogant about her "expected" victory when confiding in close friends before the match and as much as told one companion it was "beneath her" to fight a lowly singer like, "...that tramp, Beyonce" conveniently forgetting she'd carefully stage-managed her own previous matches against several 'creampuffs.' But that was then; this is now. And Charlize's pretty head continues to hang forward as she sucks in big gulps of air, realizing with a shudder that she's underrated Beyonce's talent as much as she underrated her boxing skills.

And with all the humility the proud beauty can muster, Charlize is imploring her trainer, whose advice she haughtily ignored in the opening round, to tell her how to win. Actually, how to survive may be more accurate; since she coolly she points out that another few minutes like that and Charlize will need to be stretchered out of the ring. So now she tells Theron to pay attention for once and do the opposite of what she did in the first; to use her reach and speed, to move and box, to jab, look for openings, try to create angles, then drop that big right, they've worked so hard to develop.

"You can't go straight at this girl Charlize," she states. "She's too strong. You've got to take her apart one piece at a time." She stresses that Charlize's got more skill, and she can win if she just does what they went over in training, move in and out, hit and run, use those long lithe legs to confuse the slower fighter.

By the end of the break, Charlize seems reinvigorated, both physically and emotionally. She's got a smile back on her face, as her manager pats her on her butt at the bell. Across the ring, Beyonce has been grinning throughout her break. Her manager is very happy at how her fighter stayed calm and focused and came back. Beyonce, says she knows she's stronger than Theron, that she can hurt her. Naively perhaps, young black woman has misinterpreted Charlize's rage as fear and assumes the more experienced Theron's all-out wild start was because of her fear of Beyonce. She feels sure she can pick up where she left off and almost promises to, "....end this one fast. If I hit her with that shot again, she won't get up... I could feel her bones collapsing under my power," she confidently tells any of her handlers who are in earshot.

ROUND TWO
Beyonce comes out confident, too confident perhaps, in the second round, moving in aggressively on the lanky blonde, who still looks zapped by that stunning jaw shot late in the first that dropped her dazed to the canvas for an eight count. Charlize looks a little zapped, or drained, all right; but she's also a great, savvy veteran of more fights than Beyonce has even seen. And now a disturbing pattern, for Beyonce's folks at least, begins to develop as the round goes on; the young black girl cockily plowing forward, seemingly willing to take three or four shots from the backpedaling Theron for every one she lands. But the younger fighter isn't getting upstairs, and has to be content to work Charlize's firm, lean body, with hooks after fighting her way past the blonde's long jabs. This isn't the same slightly overweight and out of shape Theron who looked terribly winded by the fourth round of the Garner bout, then faded exhausted down the stretch. No, Charlize has worked hard to get back in prime fighting shape for this fight and it shows as she artfully uses the full ring, while exploiting Beyonce's brash inexperience, to stick and run; increasingly frustrating the advancing younger fighter.

Charlize is listening to what her manager said (for a change) and by mid-round it's Beyonce slowing her charge ever so slightly, blinking in surprise as Charlize's zinging jabs increasingly find their mark, making it difficult for her to get inside and use her strength. The round moves towards its conclusion with Beyonce still taking blows while moving forward as Charlize counters expertly from long range. Far from "taking her apart punch by punch" as boldly predicted, Beyonce is instead getting sliced to pieces by Theron's whistling jabs, snapping hooks and sharp crosses. Then it happens! Beyonce lowers the left shoulder as she steps into a left hook to the body that Charlize blocks with her gloves. Beyonce, a bit off balance, stumbles forward right into a sizzling right hook that catches all of her suspect, borderline glass, jaw that she's left exposed over her extended left arm and lowered shoulder. The tawny youngster staggers, blinking stupidly, as she drops to one knee, her right shoulder against Theron's glistening left thigh. The willowy blonde gives her downed foe a derisive nudge with her knee, toppling the dazed black girl to all fours before she swaggers to a neutral corner as the count begins over Beyonce. She is up at five, showing inexperience by rising too quickly; then woozily staggering to the ropes for support as Charlize rushes in and slams two more hard hooks, one by each hand, against Knowles's drawn-up guard just before the bell clangs. Theron disdainfully struts away after sniffing at the shell-shocked young beauty, "You ain't in my class, BIMBO! Never was, never will be!"

So that Theron insider who predicted, "One tap on that porcelain jaw oughta do it," was proven only partially right. One mighty big tap put Ms. Bootylicious in wobble city, dropping her to the canvas, but it hadn't "turned out the lights" as expected. No, Beyonce is plenty dazed and wounded, but still alive - so to speak while Charlize is winded from all the backpedaling and throwing punches. Not as badly winded as in the fourth round against Garner when she'd tried to loaf through the round to recover only to find herself on her back staring up into the lights; no, she's in better shape than that. This Theron isn't as heavy, and fitter for sure, but still winded from fighting off the bull strong Black girl. And now Charlize knows the fight is far from over, even though she's turned the fight in her favor in a big way with her big right hand late in the second.

She's confident, but not overly so, listening, if not fully paying attention to her manager as she patiently explains, "Char, do the same this next round, carve that pretender up, but do it from long range; don't get in a close-in brawl. Not this round at least. If you hurt her a few more times, she'll be toast by the fourth - THEN you unload, understand?"

Charlize nods her head while absently thinking, "She's hurting plenty already and I'm not getting any stronger. The longer this goes the harder it'll get. Time to take her out now, this round!" She takes a deep, somewhat painful, breath, her ribs sore and aching still from Beyonce's body attack in the first round. She's more tired than she'd like to be for one who just scored a second round knockdown.

Over in the far corner, Charlize's designated target, Beyonce, looks plenty used up after the powerful right of Theron's put her down. But defiantly, Beyonce raises her head and glares across the ring at the beautiful blonde before rising to await the bell on her feet. Charlize meets Beyonce's defiant glare with one of her own, thinking, "OK honey, you got up once, but the second chin corker will put you down for good... guaranteed!"

ROUND THREE
The bell rings to start round three, Beyonce, touched up and dropped on her haunches the last round, looks a little heavy legged to start this round as she trudges out to meet the statuesque blonde. Theron can smell blood and she dances in, flashes that left jab, once, twice... Knowles backing up in confusion, flicks her own jab out tentatively. Theron deflects it as she contemptuously, bores in fists flying.... Left, right, left to the body, then a short, quick right cross to the side of the head; Beyonce's pretty face twisting grotesquely from the force of the blow! The younger black woman is in trouble, trying to clinch but Theron, with her long arms, disdainfully shoves her away and snaps a vicious right hook catching all jaw. Beyonce's hurt again! Tawny legs wobbly, sagging forward, Beyonce tumbles into the tall blonde and Theron bodies her up. Beyonce with her back to the ropes, rubbery legged, gloves tucked up tight not throwing any punches as Theron batters away; left hooking the body as the younger woman twists and turns in agony! A right uppercut under Knowles's ribcage has the young beauty blanching in pain, the breath knocked out of her, as Theron heartlessly scrapes her gloved thumb across the soft breast tissue at the base of Beyonce's left breast where her vicious rib thumper landed and Beyonce gurgles in pain.

Beyonce's legs are all aquiver, the youngster sagging forward against her blonde tormentor, trying to ride out the storm. But Theron wants it NOW! Pushing the rubbery legged beauty back, Theron unleashes a slashing left uppercut that sends poor Beyonce's head jerking back from the impact to the left side of her jaw...BEYONCE GOES DOWN! Knowles slumping to all fours along the ropes, head bowed low as Theron towers over her, gloves at the ready. The ref moves in to pull the big blonde back, but, before she complies, Theron tauntingly rubs one sleek, slickened thigh across Knowles's cheek, pressing forward slightly as the wobbly, woozy Beyonce topples over onto one hip. Charlize sneers down at the dazed youngster and snarls, "...and stay down, little girl, if you know what's good for you.... Bootylicious my ass, you're nothing, bitch, NOTHING, HEAR ME?!"

Theron is finally pushed back and retreats to the neutral corner as the delayed count finally begins over a badly dazed Knowles, who wearily wraps an arm around the middle strand of ropes, valiantly trying to summon the strength and willpower to beat the count. But this could be it, the count now at five with Beyonce still draped over the ropes, big legs pawing weakly in a desperate struggle to raise the rest of the way. In the opposite corner, Theron, smiling broadly, raises her gloved arms hopefully, thinking its over. But NO! Beyonce makes it to her feet at "9" weaving a bit unsteadily as the referee shakes out her gloves, checks her eyes to see if they're focused at all. She steps back finally, waving Theron in. Time is running out in this third round, a brutal one for the embattled pop diva. Beyonce is in a fog, weaving on rubbery legs, gloves drawn up around her fragile jaw. The big blonde slashes in, knocking the younger woman's peek-a-boo defense away with one crisp jab up high, following with the sizzling right uppercut, catching only that inviting "glass" jaw. Beyonce's head snaps back as she spills to her back along the ropes, brown legs lifting up briefly, then flopping down on the canvas. The ref again steers Theron back to the neutral corner, Charlize, drained and winded from the all-out assault on her wobbly, woozy foe, slings her long arms over the corner ropes, sucking in air, the sweat pouring off her long, lean body. She watches for signs of life from the splayed young beauty over in the next corner as the referee begins her count over the pole-axed Beyonce.

At "3", Beyonce raises her head, pretty face etched in confusion, pain, flops one arm weakly up toward the lower strand of ropes but she can get no further, the arm and head both fall back to the canvas at "5". She's not going to make it!

Charlize, still sucking in deep breaths of air in the neutral corner, smiles wearily, raises her gloves in a victory salute. But no, "clang clang" , the bell rings as the referee intones "9" saving the cold-cocked young beauty...or maybe just prolonging her torment. Theron's shoulders sag ever so slightly in quick disappointment as the bell interrupts the knockout count on her battered rival. But she recovers her composure quickly as she marches off to her own corner, yelling over at the groggy Knowles, "NEXT ROUND, sweetie, next round; you HEAR ME?"

Poor Beyonce probably hears only the ringing in her ears as her seconds peel her off the canvas near her own corner and prop her sweaty, trembling butt on her stool. While she slumps back against the corner turnbuckle, her handlers feverishly working over their battered charge. Beyonce's head nods forward wearily, then snaps back suddenly as an ammonia capsule is opened under her nose, bringing the dazed beauty around some. Her mouthpiece, specked with spittle and blood, is removed and rinsed off as her manager looks with some concern into her clouded brown eyes. The ref and ring doctor join him, the doctor testing her reflexes and physical condition, lifting one arm, the right one, it drops limply as she releases it. She frowns, lifts the left arm and Beyonce, grimacing, holds it up, shakily for a few seconds before it drops.

From her vantage point across the ring, Charlize, weary from punching, but stoked by an adrenaline spike, is already standing with thirty seconds left in the break, watching intently as her battered rival is checked over. The three of them, doc, ref, and Beyonce's manager, all conferring. Beyonce's eyes shoot open, she's protesting, "No...NO please, I'm OK!" Reluctantly, the ring doctor nods her head, says something to the ref and they confer again with her manager, then step back. They're heeding Beyonce's desperate plea, letting the fight go on. Charlize feels a sudden heaviness, distinct weariness, set in on her legs and arms now; but she steels herself for the next round, muttering to her manager, "Damn that bitch is tougher than I thought... I hit her with everything but the kitchen sink in the last round and she still wants more!" It is a small, grudging, but telling show of respect for the embattled young diva from the leggy blonde.

ROUND FOUR The big blonde is hungry, and also more tired than she should be for one who came within seconds of scoring a KO at the end of the previous round. Beyonce's surprise punch took something out of her in the first, and now all the energy she expended in the third round beating she layed on Beyonce is telling on her. She wants to end it right here, this round. Smacking her gloves together menacingly as Beyonce rises to her feet seconds before the bell, Theron hears her manager snarls at her, "Look, don't get careless blondie. The fight is yours for the taking. But you gotta fight smart; don't let her tie you up, carve her up from outside!"

Over in Knowles corner, her manager whispers, "Hang in there honey; cover, suck her in, use the ropes if you have to. She's tired too, let her punch herself out if you have to, but protect that pretty face at all costs then work that big body when you can. You got more heart in you, sweetie!"

Beyonce nods numbly, her freshly washed mouthpiece is slapped over her teeth and she moves out at the bell. Charlize is on her in a flash, pulling up two feet away and snapping her jab, then back with a left hook up high. Beyonce shakes off the rather light opening jab, and is stepping back as she catches the hook on her raised glove before it can do damage. Charlize moves in, feints the left hook as Beyonce bobs and weaves, but by not moving her fee is otherwise providing a virtually stationary target. Her gloves drawn up protectively, Beyonce doesn't buy the fake and keeps her left arm tucked tight, blinking at the taller blonde. Charlize pushes at the younger girl's gloves, trying to pry them apart to open up her defenses. Beyonce taking another step back and to the side, now with her back to the ropes not yet six feet out of her corner. Charlize moves in, left, right, left, only the second left getting through Beyonce's tucked up arms to glance off her pretty face. Beyonce stutter-steps sideways but stays on her feet, flicking out a defensive left jab. Charlize, growing impatient, tries to lure the tawny diva out of her shell as she wades in even as her manager is screaming at her from across the ring.

"NO Charlize; stay outside, pepper the jab, bring her guard down first."

But Charlize is already inside, working a left hook into Beyonce's side. The embattled black girl winces, body twisting slightly as she answers with a right uppercut catching the edge of Theron's ribcage as it thumps up under her right arm. Theron stays in tight, playing Beyonce's type of game, brawling inside; Left, right, left to the body, Beyonce mutely taking them all, answering only with a weak left body hook of her own. Charlize's manager is still yelling, "Back outta there, dammit; use your reach!"

This time, Charlize listens, her frustration at not being able to open up Beyonce's defense showing as she shuffles back, then also wincing as Knowles manages to stick a left into her already bruised ribs before she moves out of range. Angrily, Charlize whips the left jab; it's short; but she steps forward behind it into a right cross that blasts across Beyonce's drawn up right arm. Knowles's blinks and staggers! Charlize comes back with the left uppercut which is only partially blocked. Beyonce sags forward, legs quivering, buckling as she slowly drops down on one knee. Charlize tauntingly loops her arms under the young black woman's shoulders and holds her up, her arms trembling under the weight of Beyonce's slumped body. Then she pushes her back, sending Beyonce down on both knees, her right shoulder resting against the ropes as Theron heads to the neutral corner where she flings her arms out over the top ropes, exhaling sharply, then drawing in deep, sucking breathes of air. She's winded, tiring for sure, but is also thinking, "The bitch can't take much more... can she?"

Charlize can hear the ref counting over Beyonce across the ring, but before the lanky blonde even turns to look, and just as the ref intones, "6", Beyonce is already pulling herself up, bravely, defiantly. Theron hears the loud murmur spreading through the ringside crowd as she turns, blinking in surprise as a shaky, but upright, Knowles glares at her while her gloves are being checked out by the ref. Theron takes another deep, somewhat labored breath; her shoulders sag. She can feel it now, a sense of urgency gripping her lithe, tired body as she moves stoically out as the ref backs off from Beyonce. She blinks astonished as Beyonce, far from being on her last legs, pushes off the ropes with her butt and comes toward the blonde.

Sure, the legs are heavy, plodding even, maybe even still betraying a telltale wobble, but they're holding up under her, and Beyonce grimly stays in it. Theron is hardly dancing on lively legs herself, her movements slower. She hurries a left jab as she moves close and it misses but Beyonce's left hook to her body doesn't! Theron twists with the punch, turns angrily pushes off on Knowles' drawn up gloves. The younger woman stumbles back, still a little unsteady on her usually sturdy legs. Theron slashes in, left- right, then the left up high, all partially blocked by the younger girl who clinches, tying up Charlize's long arms.

The ref breaks them with time running out on the round. Charlize thumps a somewhat weary right uppercut up under Beyonce's tits and hears a satisfying groan, but Beyonce answers back with a left, and then a right; both surprisingly hard body hooks that Theron feels clear down to her toes! Charlize pulls away from her groping opponent just a bit, but she answers with a right rib tickler that slides off as Beyonce twists, arm grappling her. Charlize stumbles slightly, side by side with the shorter woman on the ropes. Seconds left in the round, Charlize trying to untangle her arms, but groaning as Beyonce beats her to the body punches, left-right-left! Theron's lean, lanky body twists with each punishing impact as she's pushed back against the ropes herself with Beyonce leaning on her. Charlize labors with a left hook down low, the punch grazing the waistband of Beyonce's gold bikini bottoms. Beyonce answers with a left hook, then a right; and suddenly Charlize is clutching, holding on, desperatley trying to ride it out to the bell as the never-say-quit Beyonce lands two more soul-sucking body hooks.

The bell rings, crowd on its feet cheering while the referee untangles the two sweaty, tired women, both trudging on heavy legs back to their respective corners. Charlize bottom slaps down on her stool, her arms flung over the ropes, her beautiful face flushed red, her flat stomach sucked in as she struggles to control her rapid, heavy, ragged breathing. Over in the other corner, Beyonce's body is likewise slumped as she's being worked on by her corner handlers; her light brown skin glistening with a fine sheen of sweat.. She too is sucking air; but the amazing thing is she's still in the fight even after four trips to the canvas in the last two plus rounds. With ten seconds left in the break, Beyonce is on her feet while Charlize is still slumped on her stool, just raising her head to take the mouthpiece and push herself to her feet.

ROUND FIVE
Beyonce has taken the best Charlize could dish out over four rounds and yet she's still on her feet and moving forward with more confidence while Theron, clearly gassed at the end of round four and visibly sagging in disappointment at not having stopped her young rival, plods out on heavy legs. Beyonce moves in as Charlize backpedals constantly for the first time since early in the fight. The lanky blonde is still connecting with that long jab, but less frequently as Beyonce wades in, pressing the issue. Though tired and fighting on heavy legs herself after taking all those punches and suffering the knockdowns in the previous rounds, Beyonce now seems eager to take even more punches from Theron's clearly diminished arsenal, shaking off the flicking jabs and occasional body hooks and displaying a haughty contempt for the leggy blonde's ability to put her on the canvas again. The young black fighter works Theron's body as she ceaselessly presses forward, out-muscling the tiring blonde veteran. Charlize looks frustrated, trying to create room for the big, head-hunting punches that put Beyonce down twice and nearly out the third time. But Beyonce is too solid, beating Charlize inside, landing two or three body punches for every jab or hook landed by the faltering blonde. As the fight moves past the mid-point round of the round, Charlize finds herself unable to stay away from Beyonce's relentless pressure. Her back to the ropes, Theron hangs on, clinching Beyonce who lands two and three unanswered body blows before the ref breaks them apart.

Theron, so very weary now, her manager screaming at her to get off the ropes, tries to move, to make punching room; her long, lean legs pushing frantically beneath her, but Beyonce's light mocha, smoothly muscled legs are pressed up tight against the blonde's longer, leaner, less muscular limbs; Beyonce's heavy thigh muscles rippling, overpowering Theron's trembling legs and by sheer strength keeping the embattled blonde trapped on the ropes!.

Charlize finally manages to create a small space by stumbling sideways after a break, but Beyonce, with a bullish rush, quickly drives her back up against the ropes yet again, her thickly muscled legs pumping up like well-oiled pistons as they overpower the slimmer legs of the statuesque blonde, decisively winning every leg battle being fought in the trenches. This is Beyonce's kind of battle; bodying up, legs straining against legs for an advantage; a kind of battle where raw strength and muscular endurance will almost always prevail. And prevail they do here, the stronger legs of the young pop diva dance all around and against poor Charlize's surrendering, longer, leaner, shaplier legs. Beyonce's own arms are tired for sure, but her fists are still pumping ceaselessly against the blonde's lanky torso as the tall blonde beauty hangs on, unable to budge the strong-legged black girl; Charlize answering with only a few weak hooks which are overwhelmed by Beyonce's powerful barrage of body blows.

Charlize's manager is on her feet in her corner, frantically yelling, "Move off the ropes, she's tearing you up in there; suck it up babe!"

Charlize sucks it up all right, gasping and reefing as Beyonce puts a belly busting hurt on her. But the blondes balky legs, and Beyonce's swarming style and clearly stronger young body, keep the big blonde's back pinned on the ropes. The ref moves in to break up yet another Charlize clinch, giving the battered blonde a precious, if brief, reprieve she cannot force on her own by pushing Beyonce back a few steps after the break.

Time is running out on this round and, for the first time, Beyonce seems grateful for the brief respite herself. She too is winded from her inspired rally, standing at mid-ring, arms low, her heavy chest heaving as sweat pours off her beautiful, bronzed body. Charlize senses a small opening, a chance to get back in the fight, and she digs deep steadying her shaky, tired legs as she comes off the ropes, hoping to end the round with a rally of her own as she begins circling left of the still stationary, winded dark beauty. Theron's long left flashes out, labored some, but still dangerous if it connects solidly. Beyonce moving belatedly, takes the punch on the side of the face, rocking her head to the left. She blinks, shakes it off, her legs still solid beneath her as she again moves forward. Their arms tangle as Charlize, tries to retreat but Beyonce follows with a wild right hook that ricochets off Theron's jaw. The big blonde blinks, then her legs buckle and she drops to one knee, her arms flailing, groping awkwardly, trying to grab her young rival to keep herself upright. She ends up kneeling, her left arm slung around Beyonce's glistening right thigh for balance as the ref moves in. Charlize, panting, her mouthpiece half out of her mouth, drops her eyes to the canvas as she stammers, "I.... I just slipped....I'm.....OK!" The referee calls for a towel as Beyonce yanks her big beautiful, smooth chocolate thigh out of the pawing, kneeling blonde's grasp and steps back, panting, watching quizzically while the ref wipes down a damp spot on the canvas near the blonde, then helps Charlize to her feet. After a few confused seconds, the ref. announces, "She slipped, no knockdown. Let's fight ladies"

Beyonce looks miffed as she moves in quickly. Charlize, obviously still a little shaky on her feet after the so-called "slip, is slow to react and Beyonce bulls the fading blonde to the ropes, setting her feet then ripping in the body blows. Charlize is hurt, holding on, can't answer. The younger, stronger black woman swarms all over her, dishing out a big dose of HURT! Then the bell! Beyonce strides back to her corner with a triumphant smirk after her big turnaround rally; Charlize turns the wrong way at first, then wanders slowly to hers, her long, beautiful legs clearly wobbly. She plops down heavily on her stool, her arms draped over the corner ropes, head lowered, her chest heaving as her gaping mouth sucks badly needed air.

There has been a huge turn-around in the fight with Charlize on her knees late in round five from a questionable "slip" then pummeled along the ropes and nearly out on her feet at the bell. Her corner desperately tries to re-invigorate the veteran blonde between rounds, snapping the ritual ammonia capsule under her nose; feverishly massaging arms and legs in an effort to pump some life back into exhausted muscles. Slumped on her stool, Charlize groans as her beautiful body rebels while across the ring, Beyonce, her head bowed at first, sucks big gulps of air then raises her head a full thirty seconds before the bell; a tired, confident smile playing on her beautiful full lips at the sight of Theron slumped on her stool being feverishly tended to.

Knowles's tawny body shimmers with a fine sheen of sweat, her tight muscles rippling under her perfectly smooth, light brown skin. She's on her feet before the bell while Charlize has to be pulled to her feet, her once-luxurious, flowing blonde mane now plastered to her head; damp and disheveled. Charlize wears a grimace on her pretty face as her manager whispers in her ear before sending her out, "Listen blondie; you got more class and fight in your little pinkie than that bitch has in her whole body! You can do this; suck it up honey, make this your round and your fight."

Charlize grunts, her head nodding forward, her chin almost on her sweat soaked chest. She pulls her head up slowly, but the pain... exhaustion.... is etched all over that pretty face. A worried look flashes across the face of her long-time manager as she slaps her fighter on the ass and sends her out for....

ROUND SIX
Both fighters move out cautiously on heavy legs. Charlize, plodding, but sucking it up like a true champion, tries to circle and land the long left but Beyonce will have none of it, quickly forcing her way inside. Charlize immediately blanching and clinching as the younger, fresher and now much stronger, black woman lands two and three hard digs to that lean, willowy body. The round dissolves quickly into a desperate dance for supremacy with Charlize’s long legs growing heavier and more unresponsive with each punch she takes, forced to lay on the ropes, absorbing abuse from Beyonce's fisted leather. Staggered mid-round by a punishing left uppercut that thuds up under her left breast and leaves her gaping for air, Charlize hangs on. Then, after the clinch is broken, she wanders off to the right, turning back to face the ever on-coming Beyonce. Exhausted, but dead game and still cagy, Charlize feints the left as Knowles moves in and Beyonce, throwing caution to the wind, buys the fake and walks into a following right uppercut from the desperate blonde. The punch thuds against Beyonce's carelessly unguarded jaw, lolling her head back and sending ripples down the black girl's shapely legs. Theron's handlers jump up to the apron with a quick yell, hopeful of another patented Theron comeback but Beyonce clinches briefly while she clears the head, then on the break, goes right back to work, clearly little fazed by the diminished thunder in Theron's would-be KO punch!

Charlize, perhaps having fired her last, tired bullet, soon finds her back on the ropes once more, again shipping leather as Beyonce dishes out a tremendous body beating, breaking down the near helpless blonde, punch after excruciating punch just as she'd cockily predicted beforehand. Well into the final minute, Beyonce pulls back slightly, leaving Theron a wavering, stationary target laying on the ropes in front of her. The black breauty’s sizzling left uppercut slices between the big blonde's limp arms to crash square on her jaw, the impact snapping Theron's head backward, dropping her to her butt in the neutral corner. Beyonce stands over her fallen rival for several precious seconds, arms cocked, taunting the hapless blonde, before the ref pushes her away and begins to count over the downed beauty.

No "slip" this time; Charlize is down and hurt…BAD! But, with the precious few seconds delay gained from Beyonce's taunting, Theron manages to drag her battered body off the canvas and beat the count. Yet, she’s a weaving, wobbling wreck as Beyonce storms in and unloads a wicked right to the side of the face that sends poor Charlize blubbering onto her back in the middle of the ring; by all appearances completely BROKEN after having been systematically beaten down and pummeled to her back by the bull-strong black babe. Seldom, if ever, in a memorable fight career has the veteran blonde been so stunningly overpowered by any opponent, nor has she ever seemed so weak and helpless as she is at this moment; her long, luscious body limp and twisted on the canvas, long, lithe legs akimbo, her gloved hands flung lifelessly behind her head, her blue eyes staring glassily up at the lights for a count of ‘four’ before the bell clangs, perhaps cruelly saving her for yet another round of punishment.

Beyonce, sensing the end, takes only a few gulps of precious fluids before she stands after only 20 seconds of the break, her raptor sharp eyes taking in the high drama in the opposite corner where a groggy, used-up Charlize Theron is being helped to her feet by the ref, her limp arms flung over the comforting shoulders of the ref and her manager as she’s slowly moved to her corner. There, the usual perfunctory tasks are performed. Charlize's head rolling from another bout with the ammonia capsule, the feverish massage of exhausted muscles in arms and legs, a telltale wobble as they pull her to her feet just before the bell and her manager reluctantly re-inserts the mouthpiece. Theron, still proud as the spector of imminent defeat looms, has to beg the ring doctor, the referee and her manager to let the fight go on. The referee does; but only after a stern warning to Charlize and her corner handlers, stating simply, "I WILL stop the fight in a heartbeat if your fighter can't defend herself, understood?" Her manager nods mutely as Charlize stifles a weary groan and steps out to meet her fate..

ROUND SEVEN
At the sound of the bell; Beyonce can sense the end and she swarms to the attack! Poor Charlize, a rubber-legged sitting duck, lingers in her own corner, awaiting the coming storm of leather. But there is no denying the beautiful young pop diva on this night! Pummeling lefts and right to the body leave poor Charlize whimpering in pain, and set poor, overwhelmed Theron up for the sizzling left, right combo to the head that all but ends it. The head swivels, rolls back, mouthpiece floating up, long legs buckling. Only the ropes sagging under her battered body keep the savagely beaten blondes body off the canvas but she’s clearly out on her feet; her long arms dangling listlessly at her quivering flanks. The ref has seen enough and starts to move in, but not before Beyonce snaps a withering right hook to the jaw, knocking Charlize’s mouthpiece out in a spray of foamy, blood specked spittle as the blondes big body slips backward, her butt wedged between the middle and lower strands of rope.

Beyonce, stoked to the gills, at first shrugs off the referee's tug on her left shoulder, leaning down to disdainfully grab a fistful of top to pull the battered blonde off the ropes, holding Charlize by her left bra strap as the dazed blonde slumps limp against her right thigh as Charlize's frantic corner screams at the fumbling ref to, "Get that bitch away from our girl for Gawds sake!"

Beyonce merely sneers at Theron's corner, then flings the KO’d blonde to the mat like a sack of garbage, steps over her and struts to a neutral corner while the referee begins the needless count over Charlize's face down, unmoving body.

The ten count tolls over Theron's unnconscious body, followed by an anxious cry from referee, ring doc and Charlize's manager when the savagely beaten blonde's splayed body begins to jerk spasmodically. They roll the ravaged beauty onto her back, pry open her breathing passages and work feverishly over the still unconscious blonde. Some color returns to her bruised, pallid features, but the glassy eyes still stare vacantly as she is slowly brought around. Over in the far corner, Beyonce is jubilant, surrounded by a small army of supporters as the ring announcer shoulders her way through the crowd and intones dramatically, "Ladies and gents, your winner by knockout at 35 seconds of round seven - and still undefeated - the one, the only, the bootylicious, MISS BEYONCE KNOWLES!"

Still stoked, Beyonce grabs the mike from the announcer and screams over at the huddled crew circling Theron's fallen form, "You're nothing, Theron; nothing but over-hyped blonde fluff. I just put a Bootylicious beating on your sorry ass you'll never forget, girl!"

Cheers engulf the triumphant young black woman, interspersed with a few boos from shocked Theron loyalists, as Beyonce continues to strut in triumph around the small ring as they gingerly lift a barely conscious and feebly moaning, Charlize to her feet. Dazed and humbled, but with a spark of pride driving her, Charlize attempts to pull away from her assembled helpers to walk the few remaining strides to her corner stool unaided. But her legs are shot, rubber, quaking violently and she spills sideways into the ropes after only one halting step, her left hip hitting the springy lower rope and rebounding her off the ropes. Poor Charlize collapses THUD to the canvas, her shapely full round butt thrust in the air, her face planted on the canvas and her body quivering for a few dramatic seconds. Then it's total meltdown!

Her long, lean, beautiful body sinks in total collapse as her shapely legs spread out beneath her and her arms shoot out to the sides, her raised bottom drops straight down until she lays flat on her belly, her perky little breasts pancaked under her. They turn her over again and Charlize is very pale, passed out! Her head cradled in her manager's big hands as a stretcher is quickly summoned and for only the second time in her fight career - the first being after a savage late beating at Cat Bell's hands two years before when she first lost her title to the big brunette - Charlize Theron, vanquished, beaten to a twitching pulp by the bodacious, and yes decidedly bootylicious, young slugger, Beyonce Knowles, is carried from a boxing ring. Fully five or six minutes after taking the ten count, Charlize is still a woozy wreck, sprawled semi-conscious on a stretcher in her dressing room!

AFTERMATH
Theron's checked into the hospital for observation and released the next day with no apparent lasting physical problems save a very bruised and beaten body that will take time to heal. The lingering damage to her proud psyche, however, will take longer to heal - if it ever heals! Some say this will be the end of Theron's fight career, the beating was that bad; that psychologically devastating; particularly coming as it was after Charlize seemed to have victory in hand early on. Charlize stays mum on her fate, maintaining privately to friends that, though beaten and embarrassed plenty by the hard-hitting, strong-legged, young black woman, she isn't through with fighting and even vows to avenge the devastating defeat in time.

Others around her are more pessimistic, perhaps more realistic as well, murmuring among themselves that they hope she hangs em up before she gets seriously hurt. Experience says only Charlize, a proud, sometimes stubborn, beauty, will make that call, not her manager, not her agent, certainly not her fans or friends.

Talk of a rematch - with a huge guaranteed payoff to both fighters - is already underway among fight promoters. Charlize in victory or, like now, defeat, is simply too big of a draw! Now, however, Beyonce too is in her class - if not beyond. If it comes about, the rematch will be huge and even before a contract is signed, Vegas odds are being set. This time Beyonce opens as a 3 to 1 favorite. How times have changed!!