Ellie Scotney emerged victorious after a brutal 10-round war with Mayelli Flores to claim undisputed super-bantamweight world champion honours.
Scotney won by unanimous decision, adding Flores’ WBA 122lbs belt to the WBO, WBC and IBF titles she already held, and in doing so became the youngest Briton, male or female, to hold all four belts in the four-belt era.
Flores had her own history in mind — she was fighting to be the first Mexican woman to become undisputed — and she attacked relentlessly from the opening bell. Two judges scored the contest 100-90 for Scotney, while the third had it 96-94, though the scorecards arguably underlined how fierce and close the contest felt in the ring.
Scotney, a devout Christian who had attended church that Easter Sunday morning, faced no calm in the evening. Flores, compact and powerful, forced the pace early, pressing Scotney on to the back foot and landing a right that rocked the Catford fighter. Scotney found openings with a lead uppercut and, before the end of the second, a left hook and a thumping right that tested Flores’ resolve.
The Mexican kept her head low and continued to surge forward, but Scotney began to carve out space with a right hook and probe Flores’ chin with straight shots. Flores roared as she pressed, making it a nonstop contest of pressure versus precision. At times Scotney displayed her technique with crisp, telling blows; at others the fight turned into a visceral exchange where each punch demanded an immediate reply.
Into the later rounds Flores maintained a heavy output, crowding Scotney and trying to break her down. Scotney’s cleaner punching — notably a right uppercut and a backhand hook in the ninth — proved crucial. In the final round she landed repeated right hooks as Flores poured in everything she had left, but Scotney’s telling punches sealed the victory.
Her celebration was deserved after a night of sheer will and skill. “I had to go through so many tests just to get in this ring today and only God brought me through,” Scotney told Sky Sports. “I can’t tell you how much of a hard fight that was. The scorecards didn’t do [Flores] justice. She was a real champion. That was my hardest test and I knew it was going to be. I gave everything tonight.”
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