{Prefight} : Rumor is this one came about when both wanted the same parking place at the studio lot. Hopefully, in the future, people will treat each other a little more courteously while driving. Regardless, we are here in the fall of '64 witnessing this matchup between Abby Dalton, 29, of Hennesey fame and Mitzi Gaynor, 34, known best for South Pacific and Las Vegas shows. The buzz is that Abby wants a quick match to best fit her power game while Mitzi would prefer to utilize her superior stamina due to her dancing.
Physically, Mitzi displays an impressive 37C-21-35 shape on a 5'6", 118 pound frame while Abby is a little taller, 5'7" or so and about 7 pounds heavier. Mitzi's legs are gorgeous while Abby's sports that high cheekbone model's asset.
Round 1 : Abby sprints out of her corner and throws her first punch with full momentum as Mitzi is emerging from hers. It strikes the target, Mitzi's midsection, and a loud groan is heard as she collapses back into her corner. To my memory, this is the earliest count adminstered by a referee in a fight. He is approaching 9 as Mitzi, a little ditzy, wobbles to her feet. Against his better judgment, he lets the match continue since she does qualify by the rules to keep fighting. Abby quickly moves in and hits her time and again in the stomach and sides with roundhouse lefts and rights. Mitzi, running on a self-preservation instinct, goes with the punches and is rattled around the ring. She hopes to just survive this round. She goes down again by a right with about 30 seconds left in the round. Funny, that punch didn't seem capable of causing that harm -- you have to wonder if she didn't take a dive just to have the referee step in and administer another count and get a breather. Oddly, she seems to move surprisingly well at the count of 9 as she gets to her feet. The round ends with Abby frustrated and Mitzi obviously with her full wits about her.
Round 2 : Mitzi comes out fresher than she's been with her regaining more controlled movement around the ring. She is obviously the more mobile of the two with Abby possessing the more powerful punches. During the first half of the round, she deftly avoids much contact so as to further recharge and to frustrate Abby even more. In the latter half of the round, Mitzi begins to throw some jabs that hit Abby in the face. Abby has a history of being susceptible to face swelling. Abby counterpunches to Mitzi's side and midsection, obviously trying to make her breathing more difficult to slow her down. An interesting round ends with conflicting strategies.
Round 3 : Abby attacks again by cornering Mitzi. Punches are traded according to the strategies in round 2. Mitzi continues to suffer abdomen hits while Abby takes it on the chin some more, so to speak. Abby seems to suddenly slow down in the latter stages of the round, and seems to be tilting her face in an odd manner.
{Abby's corner between Round 3 and Round 4} : A doctor is checking her left cheekbone -- it is swelled up with associated discoloration, thus he might be looking for a possible fracture. Apparently, without the aid of X-ray equipment, he nevertheless determines that it is just severe bruising and quickly applies a little first aid.
Round 4 : Abby's on borrowed time in this match and she knows it. Mitzi is known for going the distance, but Abby, with her limited stamina and now a damaged cheek, doesn't have that luxury. She mounts a furious attack, hitting Mitzi with everything she has in the midsection. When Mitzi's head slumps forward a little as a reaction to her midsection pains, Abby delivers a mighty uppercut which snaps Mitzi's head back and Gaynor falls backward against the ropes. Mitzi doesn't seem to have the option whether to get up or not, because she is just about unconscious. The referee counts her out, and a relieved Abby returns to her corner to celebrate her win with some much needed ice and first aid to her cheekbone. Abby wins in 4 by a knockout.
{Analysis} : This was a classic speed versus strength matchup. Although Mitzi's legs are well-developed and her arms are above average in power, Abby's main asset is her upper body. Her shoulders are muscular with her arms developed by some weight training. She also has a very competitive attitude, and her strategy for the first 3 seconds of the fight was genius. Although, that might have hastened the ultimate outcome, it was offset by the severe injury to Abby's cheek which was a semi-fluke itself. One of the odd situations in this fight was to my knowledge a total lack of breast punches. As a result of this match, it looks like Abby will park a little closer at the studio, and Mitzi will get more exercise for those gorgeous gams by walking a block or so after parking her car.
END