1. Mary v. Corri (Crystal)
Imagine you had a girlfriend with 10/10 looks who had recently discovered that she could excel in the noble art of catfighting. What do you say when she tells you she wants to go up against the local bad girl, a big rough-looking Amazon renowned for bulldozing all-comers and showing little mercy in the process? This is the predicament in which I like to imagine Corri’s boyfriend found himself.
This was effectively the championship match of early era Crystal Video magazines. Tall, tough and almost invincible Mary had featured in several previous fights for Crystal. Although never officially beaten, she had experienced one or two close encounters and indecisive endings, as well as many easy victories. At this point she was also a visibly improving fighter who always fancied herself to win. Corrie on the other hand had a sweet dancer’s body, pin-up girl looks and a 100% record, thanks to her relentless will to ‘hang in there’ in fights she had no right to win against much bigger women. Mary could never compete with Corri in a beauty contest, but this fistfight presented an opportunity to obtain a degree of vengeance for such genetic inequality.
On paper, this is catfight history’s equivalent of the Rumble in the Jungle. Mary’s height and weight advantage ought to see her win the title comfortably, but we all know what happened when George Foreman used the same logic against Ali. Given Corrie’s ability to turn fights against bigger women into Ws on her record, who was to say that she wouldn’t be able to pull off another upset against the biggest challenge of all?
Up to this point, both ladies could have staked a claim to be Crystal’s best catfighter. Both had demonstrated formidable killer instinct in previous matches. This bout then, my ultimate catfight, is truly for all the marbles. A place in catfight history beckoned. In an ideal world, they would even have agreed beforehand that the loser would leave town.
This is no grudge match but the nerves are tangible and these fighters mean business. Mary immediately goes to work on her smaller opponent as she attempts to turn a topless brawl into a short, brutal one-sided beatdown. Using her significant weight advantage, she throws Corri around like a rag-doll at times but, true to character, Corri gets up and rejoins the fight. Mary continues her assault: relentless punches and sickeningly sadistic use of knee-blows to head and neck threaten to finish Corri in double-quick time. This is devastating stuff. If he had been present, Corri’s boyfriend would have feared for Corri’s health. Her best hope is to take the fight beyond five minutes in the hope that Mary will tire.
Can Corri emulate the rope-a-dope strategy? Does she manage to turn the match around, as she has done so many times before? Watch it. The ending is sublime, with a finish reminiscent of the Slick-Ann classic.
This topless ten-minute gladiatorial wonder leaves no questions unanswered and no-one in any doubt about who really was the ultimate catfighter at Crystal at that time - and quite possibly of all-time.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1veao0_crystal-catfight-mary-vs-corri_sport