Ellie Scotney targeted a fight with Skye Nicolson after her one-sided victory over Mea Motu.
The IBF and WBO super-bantamweight champion retained her titles against her mandatory challenger when deservedly being awarded three scores of 99-91 at the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England.
If Claressa Shields and Katie Taylor are recognised as the world’s leading female fighters and Caroline Dubois is considered their long-term successor, the 26-year-old Scotney, like Dubois from London, is proving she deserves similar acclaim.
She regardless believes that she requires an opponent of Nicolson’s profile to deliver the nature of occasion that would transform her career.
Nicolson, the marketable WBC featherweight champion from Australia is, like Scotney, promoted by Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn. Asked, post-fight, about the prospect of unifying the super-bantamweight division, Scotney instead revealed that it is Nicolson in her sights.
“People have got to be willing to take the fights and willing to pay, but getting names is probably what gets you noticed,” she said. “I’m looking at featherweight and Skye Nicolson’s a fight I want and I’ll be pushing for that too.
“You can see the action here. It’s a fight that can be made. Eddie wants the big fights. He wants you to be willing to be paid. He wants the fights that mean something, and that means something, right?
“I’m not too happy with my performance but that’s probably the case all the time. I hurt [Motu] at times, but then, you know, looked at too many singles. She was a tough girl – I’ve got so much respect for her. She was 20-0 – I’ve never fought anyone easy and it’ll continue that way. Hopefully I’ll get some credit now because no one really puts respect on my name.
“If I was to stand there and have a fight with her, she’s very vocal and her character matched how she boxed. I’ve just got to use my boxing ability, and that’s what I did. I wasn’t born with this nose, if you look at my mum. I’m from Catford and I probably grew up having too many fights. There’s always an element of me, but Shane [McGuigan, my trainer] managed to tame me and I kept my head in there.”
Motu, 35 and from New Zealand, had won all 20 of her previous professional fights, but she struggled with Scotney’s intelligence and superior mobility and ability.
“I thought she boxed really, really well,” said Shane McGuigan, Scotney’s trainer. “She boxed well off the jab, and she stood there and traded with her a little bit too much at times. But Motu is extremely strong – but we’re very, very happy.”
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