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Andreas Hale
An injury to unified junior featherweight champion Ellie Scotney in training has forced her fight with WBA titleholder Mayelli Flores to be removed from the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis on Nov. 14, ESPN learned on Monday.
In its place, Most Valuable Promotions announced that undisputed women’s bantamweight champion Cherneka “Sugar Neekz” Johnson (18-2, 8 KOs) will defend her titles against Amanda Galle (12-0-1, 1 KOs) as the preliminary card headliner.
“‘Sugar Neekz’ Johnson is set to become Australia’s first-ever defending undisputed champion in the four-belt era, while Canada’s top 118lb contender Amanda Galle has the opportunity to make a global name for herself and become the first Canadian born undisputed champion,” said Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder and CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, in a statement. “Even with the short notice, this will be a non-stop all action fight with both fighters ready to make a statement and go to war on Friday, November 14. We wish Ellie Scotney a speedy recovery and look forward to fully supporting her return soon as she continues her mission toward undisputed.”
The severity of Scotney’s injury has not been determined, but Most Valuable Promotions hopes to get the fight rescheduled as soon as possible.
“I’m pumped to be back in the ring again before the end of the year! It’s been a while since I’ve been this active, and I’m loving it,” Johnson said. “I can’t wait to be part of the massive Jake Paul vs Tank Davis card, show the improvements we’ve been working on, and bring my belts back home. Amanda Galle came up after my fight vs. Shurretta Metcalf in NYC, showed respect, and said she wants what I’ve got — can’t blame her, I’d be chasing all the belts, too.”
Johnson steps in following her ninth-round stoppage of Metcalf in July to become Australia’s first-ever undisputed champion in the four-belt era. For her first title defense, she’ll will face an undefeated Canadian who hopes to pull off the upset.
“I’ve put my time in! I’ve been hanging out in the coat tails of these big names, working in silence and I’ve earned a spot at the table,” said Galle in a statement. “The best promotion in the world has put me on their roster and I want a shot at the best out there. I’m the undisputed bantamweight champion. Canada knows it, the world’s about to!”
In her most recent outing, Galle earned a unanimous decision over Alondra Hernandez in September.