Fistic Fury almost came to the terrace at Fairmont Princess yesterday, with top female boxers Lisa Brown and Leona Brown nearly coming to blows some two days before their scheduled world title bout at CedarBridge Academy (tomorrow, 8 p.m.).

Displaying what is a genuine dislike for each other, the bantamweight fighters taunted and briefly clawed at each other before being separated by promoter Vlad Warton, who must have felt more like a match referee, during a lunchtime press conference.

"You'd better say your prayers," Lisa told Leona.

"I ain't got to say no prayers, you say yours," was Leona's angry response. "I don't need God in my corner, he has nothing to do with this.

"Come Saturday night I'm going to knock Lisa Brown into the Bermuda Triangle."

Fuelling much of the rage in the two-time world champion Leona was an April defeat at the hands of Lisa, who Leona felt had benefited from poor refereeing.

Leona, a southpaw, will be aiming to rectify matters tomorrow night, while Lisa hopes to cement her place at the top of the division, but rather than the six rounds endured previously, this time will see an even sterner test of endurance, with the fight slated for 10 rounds.

"It shouldn't be a problem, at the gym I train for 12 rounds on a daily basis," said Lisa, who carries the simple moniker 'Bad News'. "Fighting Leona was a great experience in April. It showed me that I can go out there and do it.

"As long I go in there, take control, and stick to my game plan nothing is impossible, and I feel great about going 10 rounds."

Similarly, Leona anxiously awaits the moment the first bell sounds, when her goal will be to get inside and `rough up' her more rangy opponent.

"I have to get inside of her jab and work the body," said Leona. "I've been 10 rounds and have no problem going 10 rounds.

"I've been all over the world and I'm in tremendous condition."

The verbal sparring, of course, played right into the hands of promoter Vlad Warton, who took the opportunity to use such gesticulation as a promotional tool.

"You see, that's just the main bout alone, and there's many bouts to follow," said Warton. "So, I believe we'll fulfil the promise of delivering a great programme and I believe both the girls are going to deliver exactly what they've set out to deliver in terms of their performance."

As has been the case, another day brought more changes to the card, with two scheduled undercard professional bouts eliminated, while an amateur fight featuring a Bermudian was added.

The flyweight bout set to feature Mark (Pit Bull) Dammett and Andre Pyle fell through, as did the lightweight feature involving Russia's Victor Smirnov.

Added to the night's entertainment was Bermuda's Freeman Smith, who will take on Jason Douglas, while other bouts involving locals have Jerome Caines tackling Jeremy Thompson, and a fighter to be announced squaring off against Canada's Kyle Ferguson.

The top of the card remains largely unchanged, with Brown versus Brown the main event, followed by a middleweight fight between Guyana's Curtis Murray and Delroy Henderson of Jamaica, a cruiserweight bout involving Oleksiy Trofimov of the Ukraine and Canada's Joe Kaak, and finally a super middleweight attraction that will have American Willie Stewart meeting Anthony Osbourne of Jamaica.

Most of the fighters were present at yesterday's outdoor conference, and, to a man, stated their readiness.

"I'm ready to do my thing. I'm in shape. Me and my trainer have put in a lot of long, hard hours, so hopefully it'll pay off Saturday night," said Stewart, calling himself Slick Willie.

Kaak took a swing at his opponent when he said: "I'm going to give the guy so many lefts he's going to be begging for a right.

"As far as him hitting me . . . he can't hit what he can't see, so take it from there. I'll do whatever it takes to win."

"Me no travel all the way from Jamaica to come here to lose," said Henderson. "I will show Bermuda how it go in this business, how I box.

"I just hope the people will come out, sit down, support and watch ... a whole heap a boxing a go on."