Rhiannon Dixon, Terri Harper striving to set championship standard

After 10 rounds, Rhiannon Dixon stood in center ring and waited for confirmation that she had outpointed Karen Carabajal to win the WBO lightweight title.

When the announcement came, Dixon smiled and hugged her team, posed for her photos and left the ring. Those watching might have put the understated reaction down to a mixture of tiredness, relief and pride at years of hard work coming to a glorious conclusion.

Dixon (10-0, 1 KO) has a far simpler explanation.

“Because I think I was rubbish,” Dixon said at Thursday’s press conference, ahead of Saturday’s title defense against former WBC junior lightweight titleholder Terri Harper (14-2-2, 6 KOs). “I got out of the ring and was like, ‘That was so embarrassing,’ and [Anthony Crolla, my trainer] was like, ‘Yeah, you were rubbish,’ too. I think I’ve got a point to prove now. I think I didn’t show half of what I can do.

“Ant says I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Sometimes I can’t enjoy what I’ve actually achieved. I’m excited to show everything that I’ve learned since then.”

It is often said that becoming a champion improves a fighter by 25 percent. The exact percentage may be open to debate, but there is no doubt that a fighter stands that little bit straighter whenever they have their belt slung across their shoulder, and the knowledge of what it takes to win a championship fight generally causes them to ramp up their standards in the gym.

Dixon is a talented boxer who has taken every opportunity presented to her, but the lightweight division is one of the strongest in women’s boxing and Dixon is now campaigning at the very top of it.

Now that she is competing with some of the biggest names in female boxing, she will need more than natural ability; she will need an unshakeable self-belief in that ability. Winning a world title has certainly had an effect.

“I think it’s boosted my confidence massively,” she said. “I think when I was on Matchroom [shows], at first, I had a bit of imposter syndrome. I had seven white-collar fights, and you had all these other amateurs on the stage saying they’ve won this and won that. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve literally fought in nightclubs and now I’m up on stage with these people.’

“Since winning the world title and going from Commonwealth to European to world titles, it’s boosted my confidence, and now I know I belong on this stage.”

Harper is a former WBC junior lightweight titleholder who has enjoyed mixed fortunes since losing her belt to Alycia Baumgardner back in 2021. She jumped up to the junior lightweight division, drew with Cecilia Braekhus and hasn’t boxed since Sandy Ryan stopped her after four one-sided rounds of a WBO welterweight title fight in March. 

Whereas Dixon’s self-assurance is growing, Harper has admitted to struggling with her own confidence in the past. She will be hoping for some early success to help banish the memories of her struggles against Ryan.

Harper has spoken about beating Dixon inside the distance, but her prediction was greeted with disdain by the 29-year-old Dixon, who is insistent that the challenge of facing a former champion will bring out the best in her and set her up for some major fights.

“Like she said with saying she was going to give Sandy the hardest fight of her life … with peace and love, I think she says a lot of things she doesn’t actually, genuinely believe,” Dixon said. “When she said she was gonna stop me, I laughed because I thought, ‘Well, it’s not gonna happen, is it?’

“This is definitely my toughest fight. I’m under no illusion that it’s gonna be my toughest fight, but it’s a fight that I’ve been ready for for a long time. It’s a fight that I’m really excited for, and when I win on the weekends, these big British fights are a massive trajectory and it shoots you into the massive fights, so that’s something I’m really excited for.”

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79.