Latest / Between The Rounds Official / MVPW-01 Full Card Breakdown | Dubois-Harper, Scotney Undisputed, Cameron at 154
Transcript
- Sarah: to Between the Rounds. I'm your host, Sarah Cunningham, and tonight I'm breaking down the fight card from the Olympia London. It was the first all-female MVP card on UK soil. had four world title fights, a new undisputed champion, a two-weight world champion, and a 44-year-old who reminded everyone that experience still has teeth, and a main event that delivered exactly what it promised. This is Between the Rounds. Let's break it all Okay, so first off we had Garcia versus Dolan. This is the fight nobody was actually talking about, but it is one that everyone will remember. Emma Dolan came in unbeaten 8-0. She was a British and Commonwealth champion. Did everything right on the way up. Relocated her life from Norwich to Newark. Beat every opponent. Waited patiently for her world title shot. Yet Irma Garcia is a 44 year old with an amazing background from being a lawyer to a federal police officer and a southpaw who has clearly been solving young fighters for over a decade. Round two, Garcia rattled Dolan. She went down twice. She walked onto a beautiful overhand that buckled her legs. You could see it in her face. She was absolutely shook. Round three, she went down again. She had zero head movement. She was fighting at mid-range exactly where Garcia wanted her. And listen, the corner did the right thing and threw in the towel. They pulled her out and they saved her. Garcia was brilliant. The Southpaw timing, the backhand hook, she popped the power and Dolan had no answer for it. For Dolan, it was just too much too soon. To move up from domestic championship to world level, it's not to be underestimated. And I think it's also a reminder to not write off the veterans and especially women who fight in their 40s. Then we have Cameron versus Kostikova. a former undisputed at 140 pounds. Listen, she's the only woman to beat Katie Taylor, the two minute rounds. She signed with MVP to be able to fight under the conditions that she demanded wanting those three minute rounds. Tonight she jumped two weight classes to 154 pounds and she dominated. And two of the scorecards, it was 100 to 90. And one of the scorecards, they gave Kostikova one of the rounds. From the very first round, she was landing big shots on the front foot. Now what I like to see about Cameron was that she mixed it up really well with some really nice boxing too. But you could hear the leather landing. She had a beautiful jab, powerful backhands, big lead hooks, excellent body work. Now I noticed Kostikova after the first round. was circling to the left pretty much all night to avoid that right hand. And round two was certainly Kostikova's best round. I think after she felt the power in round one she took a little bit more risk. But Cameron was to kind of solve those adjustments pretty quickly shot selections and beautiful timed punches. ⁓ In her post fight, she was honest that she needs to adjust to the pace of the three minute rounds. Again, these women are talking about they're going to be able to get these knockouts and I get it. It takes time to adjust from two to three minutes. And ⁓ I love that the self-awareness is there of whether she's... There's moments where she's not doing enough and other times where she's doing too much. So it's just about being able to find that balance. But the moment after scorecards was the real highlight. Michaela Mayer stepped up and they had a face to face and there was mutual respect between both of them. Both said that they want this fight. And guess the beauty of that is they're now both signed with MVP, so it should be easier to make that fight. with Cameron back with her old her future is looking pretty bright. So Chantal Cameron is now a two-way world champion and the next chapter starts with Michaela Mayer. Then we have Scotney versus Flores. Now, Ellie Scotney is the undisputed Super Bantonweight champion of the world. She's the youngest UK boxer to go undisputed in the four belt era, male or female. She did it the right way. She never fought for a vacated title. She has always fought champion to champion from to the WBO to the WBC and now the WBA. ⁓ But Flores was relentless, came forward all night and through the kitchen sink at Scotney. She never stopped. But Scotney controlled the fight on the back foot. ⁓ Lovely time backhands, sharp hooks, beautiful lateral movement. And the corner work was just fantastic. To hear Shane McQuigan between the rounds was just... Beautiful coaching. He basically told her to not lead with the backhand all the time. Don't shoot off the backhand on the ropes, to be patient, be the counter puncher, use that jab. And she listened and she executed so well. just that micro step back and those tiny pauses made all the difference. She was clean and composed and managed her distance perfectly. And then in the later rounds, she started to dig to the body really, really nicely. And that's a fighter who knows she's winning and still looks for more. One of the scorecards had it 96, 94, two of the scorecards was 100 to a 90. Now I had it scored 97 to 93 and Scotney herself felt that two of the judges scorecards were a little bit unfair given the effort and the respect earned from Flores. regardless of the wider points ⁓ decision doesn't change the outcome. Ellie Scotney undisputed at She is unbelievable. And then we have Dubois versus Harper, the fight this card was built around. And it certainly delivered. But there is real animosity between these two. Now Dubois said after the fight that that was all around being able to sell entertainment and sell tickets to this fight. I think Terri took it a little bit more personally. The first five rounds, Dubois controlled the distance, hesitated. She found power in the jab earlier on and dug to the body in round five, kept stepping too far back out of range attacks. And she gave Harper that space to kind of control the pace of the fight. And the thing about Harper is she doesn't do well under sustained pressure and Dubois needed to push the pace earlier. And round six, thank goodness she did. you could feel the shift in Dubois. You could feel her closing that distance really well. And then she dropped Harper. I knew it was coming. The range was right. The timing was right. And I was like, yes, about time. And you could even see the frustration in Caroline after she landed that she was like, yes, this is what I needed. After the knockdown, Dubois fought with much more confidence. she landed a beautiful hook to close the seven. Round eight got messy. There was a nasty headbutt, opened up a cut on Harper's left eye. There was a lot of blood, But I have to give Terri Harper credit. She was game all night. round nine, she even found some nice body shot work. And let me tell you, 10, she planted her feet. She stood toe to toe in the 10th, landed some solid right hands in the It was wide on the scorecards. Two of the judges gave Dubois eight rounds out of the 10 and one of the scorecards was seven three. ⁓ but this is a fight Dubois has learned a lot from and she's been really tested. And this is great. This is exactly what she needs. And she knows she left rounds on the table earlier on by not pressuring a fighter who's been broken under pressure before. And that's the homework for the next one. So Caroline Dubois is officially the unified WBC and WBO lightweight champion. And the path to undisputed is open. The question is, is she ready for Alicia Baumgartner? Four title fights, three new champions, one statement card. promised a platform for women's boxing. Tonight they delivered. The question is now whether they can sustain it for MVPW number two in 12 days at Madison Square Garden's where Baumgartner headlines. This is Between the Rounds. I'll see you on the next episode.