Eddie Hearn believes that Terri Harper’s profession could possibly be on the road when she challenges Rhiannon Dixon for the WBO light-weight title on August 24. The 2 will field at Manchester’s new Co-op Reside Area on the undercard of the tremendous light-weight combat between Jack Catterall and Regis Prograis.
Whereas Dixon, 10-0 (1 KO), solely graduated to world class by outpointing Karen Carbajal to win the vacant title in April, Harper, 14-2-2 (6 KOs), has been competing on the highest stage for years.
“Terri Harper has been round for a very long time. I nonetheless see her as a younger fighter within the sport however she was actually there on the emergence of massive time ladies’s boxing on this nation. She’s a former unified champion, a two division champion and she or he’s trying to turn out to be a three-division world champion,” Hearn stated.
“Rhiannon Dixon is on a pointy rise. She’s younger and she or he’s bettering on a regular basis. For Terri, she has to win the combat. That is perhaps it if she doesn’t win. She might say that herself as properly.”
In 2021, Harper misplaced her IBF tremendous featherweight title after being knocked out by Alycia Baumgardner. She made a rapid cease at light-weight earlier than the chance to field Hannah Rankin for the WBA tremendous welterweight title tempted her so as to add 20 kilos to her body.
Harper outboxed the Scot and defended the title in opposition to the respectable Ivana Habazin earlier than settling for a disappointing majority draw with Cecila Braekhus. The 27-year-old admitted to feeling the burden distinction in opposition to the skilled “First Woman” and elected to drop all the way down to welterweight however was ruthlessly stopped by a formidable Sandy Ryan in a WBO title bid in March.
If the combat is certainly a make or break evening for Harper, Hearn believes that making her manner again all the way down to light-weight provides her the most effective probability of including one other chapter to her profitable profession.
“She has to win. She’s bought enormous expertise over Rhiannon Dixon and I feel she’s going to be a lot better at 135 kilos. It’s all very properly going from 130 to 154 kilos however you’re simply not the identical,” he stated.
“135 kilos will probably be powerful for her, particularly after placing on that dimension and that muscle however she’s positively going to have the scale benefit over Rhiannon. Rhiannon has the freshness. It’s an ideal combat and the proper combat to make.”
