Caroline DuBois Defeats Terri Harper, Claims Unified Lightweight Titles in London
It was Most Valuable Promotions second female card and it was a good one.
Caroline DuBois captured the unified lightweight title fight after a slow start to defeat Terri Harper by unanimous decision after 10 competitive rounds. DuBois now holds the WBO and WBC titles after their fight in London on Sunday.
Instead of a volatile explosive fight it was rather technical.
The southpaw DuBois (13-0-1, 5 Kos) had promised a knockout against Harper (16-3-2, 6 Kos) but settled for a knockdown and winning the intense rivalry in front of a sold-out crowd at Olympia in London, England. It was MVPs first card under the new ESPN contract.
Both British fighters arrived with accusations and criticisms of each other that accompanied them all the way to the weigh-ins. But on Sunday, facing each other, the boasts and roasts were put away. It was a title fight.
Harper used her long reach and jab to keep the heavy-hitting DuBois at a prescribed distance. It worked for five rounds to the benefit of the taller Harper but not by much.
In the sixth round it all changed when DuBois cracked Harper with an overhand left and floored the three-division champion. Harper seemed shocked and disappointed as she rose from the floor.
From the seventh round on DuBois seemed more animated and dictated the exchanges as Harper became even more conservative. But not for long.
Though DuBois packs power, Harper also has power and realized she needed to score a knockdown to change the momentum. She charged more vigorously but heads collided and Harper emerged with a gash in between her eyes as blood flowed freely down her face.
That blood made things more difficult for Harper who repeatedly ran into DuBois’ head because of her southpaw stance. Time after time heads collided until the final round.
Harper worked hard to score but the knockdown put DuBois ahead on rounds, and although there were no more knockdowns, all three judges scored it heavily for DuBois 98-91, 97-92, 98-91. She now holds both the WBC and WBO lightweight titles.
Other bouts
In perhaps the fight of the night, Ellie Scotney (12-0) pulled out a unanimous decision win in a slugfest against Mexico’s Mayelli Flores (13-2-1, 4 KOs). With two judges sending in their cards without watching the fight, Scotney became the undisputed super bantamweight world champion.
“She was a real champion. I gave everything tonight,” said Scotney, 28 who became the youngest British fighter to become undisputed champion.
“Right now I’m going to enjoy this moment. This has been the best night of my life.”
Flores, 33, walked in five inches shorter than Scotney, but held the WBA super bantam belt and erupted in the first round with her attack dog mentality. Her overwhelming punch-rate is hard to equal. It took Scotney about a round to adapt.
Behind an accurate left hook, Scotney caught Flores every time she loaded up with left uppercuts to the body. It played out throughout the 10-round fight. But Flores worked the body incessantly and overhand rights found the mark too. Though Scotney was landing flush shots, they were not enough to hurt or stop the Mexican champion.
Flores definitely out-punched Scotney but was not given credit by two judges who scored a ridiculous 100-90 for the British fighter. Though Scotney did land the clearer blows, it was still a very competitive fight. The third judge had it a fairer 96-94.
I scored it 96-94 for Scotney.
Fighting for the vacant WBO super welterweight title, Chantelle Cameron (22-1) over-powered and mostly dominated Michaela Kotaskova (11-1-2) for most of the fight with pressure and power punching to win by unanimous decision in 10 three-minute rounds.
Cameron walked through Kotaskova’s punches from the first round and blasted the taller Czech fighter with overhand rights, left hooks and uppercuts but never could drop her. Though Cameron was the much heavier puncher, she could not seem to take the fight out of her.
“She was very tough,” Cameron said.
During the last three rounds Kotaskova stopped moving and stood her ground. It proved to be an effective strategy and allowed her to make the last three rounds closer than the previous seven rounds. But it was too late.
After 10 rounds all three judges saw Cameron the winner 100-90, 99-91 twice.
Mexico’s Irma Garcia (26-5-1, 6 Kos) knocked out England’s Emma Dolan (8-1) with overhand lefts and retained the IBF super fly world title for the third time in two years.
Garcia, 44, a federal police officer in Mexico and an attorney, won the IBF title two years ago in Long Beach, Calif. and used that same left-handed power she showed Dolan to defeat Italy’s Stephanie Silva. This time Garcia knocked down Dolan three times and overwhelmed the British fighter in the third round to convince the referee to stop the fight at 23 seconds of the round.
Though in her 40s, Garcia has shown she has agility, quickness, skill and power and could be a thorn for any of the other super flyweight champions including Mizuki Hiruta, Jasmine Artiga and Adelaida Ruiz. Both Hiruta and Ruiz train in Los Angeles and would be eager to make that fight.
Former bantamweight champion Shannon Courtenay (11-3, 4 KOs) now fights at flyweight and knocked down Sasha Booker (3-2) twice before ending the fight at 1:57 of the third round. Courtenay still packs power and proved it against the taller Booker when two left hooks hurt and then dropped her in the first round. In the third round Courtenay loaded up with a right and when Booker dipped under, she ran into Courtenay’s head with her own. The shorter Courtenay fired a left hook to the body and Booker went down for a technical knockout.
In a bantamweight fight, Teresa Makinen (6-0) was ruled the winner by the referee over Chloe Watson (9-3) after eight rounds. In a spirited and evenly matched fight, the referee who also served as the judge, ruled in favor of the still undefeated Makinen.
