Scotney becomes Britain's youngest undisputed champion
Ellie Scotney became Britain's youngest undisputed champion in the four-belt era after beating Mayelli Flores by unanimous decision at the Olympia in London. Scotney, 28, was pushed all the way by a game Flores, who brought the WBA super-bantamweight title into the contest, but showed great ring IQ to win by unanimous decision. A tearful Scotney was lifted into the air by trainer Shane McGuigan upon hearing the result, with one judge scoring it 96-94 and the other two seeing it much wider at 100-90.
"I can't tell you how much of a hard fight that was, I think the scorecards didn't give her justice - she was non-stop from the first bell," Scotney said. "When I tell you I had to go through so many tests to get here today. Only God brought me through.
" Scotney is the fourth British boxer - male or female - to seal undisputed status in the four-belt era after Josh Taylor, Chantelle Cameron and Savannah Marshall. Earlier, Cameron became a two-weight world champion with a unanimous decision win over Michaela Kotaskova to claim the vacant WBO light-middleweight world title. But it was disappointment for Norwich's Emma Dolan who suffered a third-round knockout defeat against IBF super-flyweight champion Irma Garcia.
Dubois v Harper: Scotney fights for undisputed title after Cameron's world title win Scotney looked full of confidence as she walked to the ring with former WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam Smith carrying one of her belts. Working out the puzzle of Flores was key to Scotney's victory but trainer Shane McGuigan gave her the tools to succeed between rounds - urging her to use the jab and rely on footwork. The Catford fighter put that plan into action and started to punish Flores with hooks as she stepped out of the firing line.
Flores was certainly the more active but few of those shots found the target as Scotney threw with precision and purpose - doing the cleaner work. Scotney's best work came in the sixth, landing three hooks on Flores' chin, but the Mexican walked straight through them. The crowd chanted Scotney's name as the 10th round got under way as they sensed victory was within her grasp and she smiled through the final two minutes.