Ellie Scotney believes her impressive performance in victory on Saturday over Mea Motu owes to the spiritual “growth” she underwent while inactive for so much of 2024.
The IBF and WBO super-bantamweight champion resisted a cut suffered by her left eye in the first round at the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England to convincingly inflict the first defeat of Motu’s 21-fight professional career via three deserved scores of 99-91.
Her performance provided the latest demonstration of the increasing maturity that is contributing to her proving herself one of the world’s finest female fighters, and also followed nine months of relative despair.
When in April 2024 she defeated Segolene Lefebvre to add the WBO title to that she already possessed from the IBF she envisioned embarking on a period in which she would dramatically enhance her reputation and career, but a torn calf prevented she and Motu from fighting in October and further stalled her career at a time when the British fight scene was already being held while promotions in Saudi Arabia were prioritised.
She is concerned that she suffered a recurrence of the same injury against Motu – 35 years old and from New Zealand – but as a consequence of the increased mental strength that came with her previous setbacks doesn’t anticipate her career, and therefore psyche, again suffering.
Scotney, speaking immediately post-fight, had been relatively critical of her fine performance, but on Monday she told BoxingScene: “I was in a flow state. In that ring I felt like it was just me in there – there was an empty crowd; maybe it was a bit of that – [but] I felt like it was just me in that whole venue. These last nine months, mentally, I’ve gone through quite a bit. A lot of growth. I struggled with the time out of the ring. You’re not getting paid; you’re not seeing things move. If I go back to April, it was meant to be the turning point in my career. If anything, it went the opposite way, and that really confused me.
“When I unified in Manchester, the manner I did it in, I thought, ‘This is where my life’s gonna change’, and it didn’t. I picked up the injury, and the delay, and I found my faith in God really grew. I felt his presence. It’s a different kind of meaning – I’m living a calling. When I was in there I felt nothing else in that moment and I truly believe that was by God’s grace.
“I live and breathe boxing – it’s a blessing and a curse. When you can’t do that and haven’t got a date set you lose a little bit of yourself. Missing Christmas – I love Christmas. But now I can see there was meaning in waiting those nine months. I went through a little journey. It was on his timing and couldn’t have gone better the other night.
“I have a different kind of trust [today]. There’s a reason it didn’t work out. I boxed in the first month of the year; I’m gonna get activity; I’m gonna get momentum, and this year is gonna be on my call, and that’s a nice feeling.”
Asked about her previous reluctance to praise her performance, Scotney, 26 and from south London, then responded: “That’s probably the way we’ve been brought up – all of us, as a family. All the time I get out of the ring and it’s, ‘I could have done this’. I watched it back [on Sunday] night with my mum, and I was happy – as was Shane [McGuigan, my trainer]. Of course there’s areas I can do more in, but I was happy with my performance, watching it back.
“I probably held my feet a little bit too much. When I had her hurt I probably threw too many singles. I’m always still searching for that stoppage. There’s a lot I’m yet to show, but that’s a blessing, because there’s so much more that everyone’s yet to see. The better the fighter, the better you’ll see of myself.
“Shane’s a worse critic than my mum – we have a really high standard in the gym – and for him to come out and by happy I was like, ‘Wow – I must have boxed well’. When you’re in the gym you don’t tend to see yourself improve. But when I finally watched myself, what we’d worked on in the gym – the game plan – everything worked. I had to use my feet in there really well; I was moving to the right really well; finding the room for the right hand; getting out of range; little things like that. I can only credit Shane.”
When she was speaking post-fight Scotney also spoke of her desire to move up to featherweight to challenge the WBC champion Skye Nicolson of Australia, and she has since said that she received so positive reaction to doing so that Nicolson remains her priority – as long as her calf isn’t again about to hold her back.
“We’re big at the minute on making the fights people want to see, right?” she continued. “As soon as I said it I felt like the public’s reaction was, ‘Yeah, we wanna see it’. Let’s make the big fights in the women’s divisions.
“Maybe Turki [Alalshikh] looks and thinks – I know he’s not big on female boxing – ‘Yeah, we can make that’. I’ve made it known I want the fight. If I want it, and she’s claiming she wants it, there shouldn’t be a stalling block in there.
“I’m pretty certain I tore my calves in the fourth round. I’m hobbling around Catford [south London] – it’s not great. But this year’s got to be about activity. I’m in a good position going forward, and just praying and hoping I get activity this year. I’m seeing my physio on Wednesday – hopefully it’s not the case. It’s very painful.”
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