It was a strange circumstance that left Blanchfield and her team with nothing to do but shrug and move on as best as they could, but in a sport so often predicated on opportunities and momentum, it was naturally frustrating to see a marquee chance evaporate in front of them. Two weeks ahead of that fight, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko defended her title against Manon Fiorot, and it wouldn’t have been out of the realm of possibility for Blanchfield to have earned a title shot if she made a statement against Barber.
That’s relegated to a sliding door, however. Taking what positives she could from the training camp and fight week under the spotlight, she chugged along the best she could and waited for her next opportunity to reveal itself.
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“I mean, it wasn’t ideal, but it happened,” she said. “Afterwards, I felt like it was kind of similar to how post-fights are. I kind of took my time to recover from camp and then got this fight set up, which was a great location, I think a great fight for me. I’m just excited for the next one.”