IBF super-bantam champ Ellie Scotney targets career-defining fights as Caroline Dubois wins IBO title

BY JACK BURGESS

Ellie Scotney made her intentions clear regarding her next move after a dominant win over Argentinian veteran Laura Soledad Griffa at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.

The 24-year-old from Catford (8-0) successfully defended her IBF super-bantamweight world title against the gritty and relentless challenger from Argentina (20-9).

“She was very unorthodox and sometimes when you fight at that sort of level, it can be stop-start,” Scotney told YouTube’s channel Boxing Social. “I had to box at times and hold my feet at times. It wasn’t my best performance but the better the opposition, the better Ellie Scotney you’ll see”.

Scotney made a successful first defence of her world title since snatching it away from New Zealander Cherneka Johnson in June.

“I want a unification at the end of the year, Eddie (Hearn, Matchroom Boxing promoter) and my team are talking about it, so it’s about making that happen now. I want to prove I’m the number one in the division, and I know that Eddie is the guy to produce the fights that I need.”

Scotney had solid support on the night – none more so than that from Croydon ABC, who she posed for pictures with after retaining her belt.

When asked about their support and how important she felt it was to give back, she said: “It’s magic.

“You’ve got female fighters and they’re looking excited about having a picture with me. That shows where female boxing is moving and to be a part of that is massive. It’s touching and I think sometimes I forget that it can impact people and it shows that women are being accepted as boxers.”

Scotney’s bout took place at 7pm so that it allowed trainer Shane McGuigan to dart across the capital to then be in the corner of fellow South London and Scotney’s stablemate Caroline Dubois.

Dubois, the younger sister of Greenwich heavyweight Daniel Dubois, won the vacant IBO world lightweight title with a unanimous points win over Magali Rodriguez at Bethnal Green’s York Hall.

Dubois put Rodriguez down once in the sixth round and twice in the ninth round to win by scores of 99-88, 98-89 and 97-90 to move her perfect record to 8-0.

McGuigan was happy with Scotney’s display.

He said: “Ellie is naturally very critical of herself, always wanting the best. You want to strive for perfection, but sometimes you’ve got to sit back and appreciate your performances and what you’ve done.

“She boxed brilliantly for four rounds, got a little bit messy after the fifth, but she held her form and boxed well.

“The opponent she was in against was very tough and applying a lot of pressure. It’s genuinely hard to look good against those people who are just rushing you like that, but she won 10 rounds.”

It was the first fight since Scotney’s grandmother Eileen, 99, had passed away.

“She was a special soul – my number one fan and my biggest critic,” said Scotney. “She had the best seat in the house tonight and I hope I made her proud.

“I’ll make sure that moving forward I make her proud and fulfil the promises we made.”

Battersea’s Denzel Bentley will defend his British middleweight title against Stoke’s Nathan Heaney on November 18 with the WBC Continental belt also on the line. The co-main event sees South London-raised Isaac Dogboe face Nick Ball in a final eliminator for a WBC world featherweight title shot.

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