On Sunday, a stacked fight card will play out in London, with Caroline Dubois and Terri Harper headlining in one of four world-title bouts, as women’s boxing takes centre stage.
In that main event at Olympia, Dubois puts her WBC lightweight title and unbeaten record on the line against WBO champion Harper, who has held titles at three weights, after a frosty buildup.
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In the chief support fight, the unbeaten Ellie Scotney eyes history as she defends her unified super-bantamweight belts against Mayelli Flores, who holds the remaining world title in the division, meaning the winner will secure undisputed status.
Also, rising super-flyweight talent Emma Dolan challenges for her first world title against Irma Garcia, and Katie Taylor’s sole conqueror, Chantelle Cameron, boxes Michaela Kotaskova for the vacant WBO super-welter belt. And there are more women’s prospects in action on the undercard, plus two men’s fights.
The event, which will air live on Sky Sports, comes courtesy of Jake Paul’s company Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), which the influencer-turned-boxer runs with Nakisa Bidarian. Ahead of the card, The Independent met with Bidarian in London to discuss a pivotal moment in women’s boxing.
Alex Pattle: What makes this event different to some of the big women’s fights you’ve put on before, such as Katie Taylor’s three bouts with Amanda Serrano?
Nakisa Bidarian: “This event is smaller than some of the biggest ones we’ve done, in terms of venue, but it’s bigger than everything other than 11 July in New York last year [Taylor vs Serrano 3], because it’s a quadruple world-championship card with UK fighters that have a stake in each of those championships.
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“And it’s meaningful that we’re going to a venue like Olympia, which used to host some very meaningful, big boxing events. Plus, you get to see potentially the youngest-ever undisputed male or female champion in UK history, in Ellie Scotney, that’s powerful to me.”
Bidarian with Chantelle Cameron (left) and Ellie Scotney (Mark Robinson MVP)
AP: One social media comment on our coverage of this weekend’s event claimed: “There is no future for women’s boxing cos it is s****, basically.” It’s crass, but how would you respond to such a critic, and do you set out to prove people like that wrong – or just focus on hardcore boxing fans?
NB: “First and foremost, it’s a young sport. It only became an Olympic sport in 2012, the talent is improving every single year, and the US has never had women’s boxing at an Olympics they’ve hosted… but at LA 2028 we will have that, so that will further bring attention to the sport in a way we haven’t seen before.
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“Secondly, we’re focused on two groups of fans. One is boxing fans who are now accustomed to seeing women’s boxing as well – and there’s some old, staunch guys who are like, ‘I’ll never watch it!’, but there’s lots of open-minded folks who say, ‘This is a lot more exciting, this is non-stop action.’ And two, we’re focused on female sports fans, women who consume women’s sports.
“If we’re just targeting the same pool as all the other promoters in men’s boxing, we’re kind of dead on arrival. Ultimately, if you don’t want to watch our product, that’s OK; we feel like we’re presenting the best in the world on a consistent basis.”
Emma Dolan training ahead of her world-title challenge against Irma Garcia (Getty)
AP: This week, you signed a multiyear broadcast deal with Sky Sports, which has also just partnered with Zuffa Boxing. How do you fit in?
NB: “Our strategy and delivery to Sky is really focused on the women’s vertical, which is MVPW, and we announced our deal with ESPN a couple of weeks ago. So, to have ESPN in the US and Sky in the UK for women’s boxing is an incredible distribution platform to get as many eyes on these athletes as possible. The way we’ve structured those deals is to allow us to lead with the women but also have men on those cards, so it gives you the best of both – but really led by incredible female athletes.
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“I think Zuffa coming further solidifies Sky’s investment in boxing. If it was just us, doing two or three shows a year here focused on women, that doesn’t give me the same excitement as Zuffa coming here as well and doing five, six, seven shows, because that just means there’s more investment internally at Sky. In terms of the writers, producers, social media, all of them will be more engaged, more active in supporting boxing on the whole.
“We’ve obviously taken a very specific strategy to focus on blockbuster live events and then really go deep on women’s boxing. We’ve done this because we believe you can actually have a referenced brand that’s female-oriented; it’s hard to do that on the men’s side, because you have promoters like Matchroom and Queensberry and PBC and Golden Boy and Top Rank… and now Zuffa. There’s an endless amount of premier promoters that focus 95 per cent of their energy on the men’s side.”
The legendary Amanda Serrano is the biggest name on MVP’s impressive female roster (Getty for Netflix)
AP: Zuffa has been pretty controversial since its arrival in January. It’s seen as a major disruptor and has begun feuding quite aggressively with existing promotions, namely Matchroom. How do you view Zuffa?
NB: “It’s not that we love or have a problem with Zuffa. I think a lot of people are questioning their desire to introduce a Zuffa belt. For me, what’s important is having the best talent. You can’t just create a belt and say, ‘This is the best belt in the world and you should watch this, because you’re seeing the best talent in the world.’ No, the best talent in the world actually doesn’t currently sit in Zuffa on a mass scale. The ability of the belt to be successful depends on who the talent is.”