It has
certainly been a rocky start to the year with many events being
postponed and pushed back - despite the difficult start through
March and April however many organisers were able to turn things
around quickly. Horse racing had been amongst the first to get
things kickstarted again. This came following the cancellation
of the National, which is one of the biggest events in the
sporting calendar. The odds are already up on the event for next
year at grandnational.org.uk,
with excitement already building. Football and now boxing has
followed suit and proven to be a great success.
One of the more
high profile events has happened a little more recently however
as a breakthrough event for women’s boxing in a historic title
fight could have put the sport on the map in a big way. August 7th
saw Terri Harper and Natasha Jonas end in a draw as Harper
was able to do enough to hold on to her WBC title. Promoter
Eddie Hearn would go on to say
“We have to do that again. It was absolutely incredible. We are
trying to push the women’s game but you can’t do it without the
product. Women’s boxing is right up there and what a fight” -
the statement really hits the nail on the head and without the
talent to really show just how skilled these fighters are, it’s
difficult to bring the sport to a wider audience but a few more
big nights like this are exactly what’s needed to bring more
eyes - there has been recent movements across combat sports as a
whole particularly in the UFC to see women's competition grow,
and it’s certainly on its way.
In a sport that is over
overshadowed by the men’s division, it is a night that certainly
put all eyes on women’s boxing by creating a genuine rivalry
that is being seen across this entire generation of women combat
athletes. With such an impressive performance, it’s almost all
but confirmed at this point that the two will meet again in a
rematch but there are certainly other fights to come too -
Harper still has eyes towards another title in the
super-featherweight division with Matchroom Boxing signing Ewa
Brodnicka specifically for that reason.
There’s a budding rivalry building underneath this too however -
Brodnicka’s first mandatory challenge comes from the American
Mikaela Mayer who has been repeatedly calling out Terri Harper -
a statement issued by promoter Eddie Hearn reads “She doesn’t
stop yapping” with Mayer warning “If they want to grow Terri’s
career, they need to come to America for a fight against me.”
This weekend may have another blockbuster fight in store for
fans too as Katie Taylor will put her lightweight title on the
line against Delfine Persoon as they come together for a rematch
- last year Persoon threw a bit of a tantrum after being
declared the loser of their last bout whilst throwing shots at
her rivals fighting style - this brings yet another rivalry to
the sport and the publicity from a big fight and the feuds that
are being created could be enough to propel women's boxing into
the mainstream.