Stylish Scotney battles through cut to retain world titles

Briton Ellie Scotney outpointed a tougher-than-expected Mea Motu in a stylish defence of her IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine super-bantamweight titles at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.

Scotney, 27, was made to work against the New Zealander, who continued to come forward throughout the 10 rounds, but the Londoner’s superior skills prevailed.

The champion, who suffered a cut after a clash of heads in the first round, won by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring it 99-91.

“I’m not too happy with my performance. I feel like I hurt her at times, but she was a tough fighter,” Scotney said.

She extends her unbeaten record to 10 wins, as New Zealander Motu, 35, was defeated for the first time in 21 professional bouts.

In the main event, Sheffield welterweight Dalton Smith made short work of Walid Ouizza to defend his European title.

Smith floored the Frenchman twice before the fight was stopped in the final second of the first round.

The unbeaten 27-year-old, who is ranked second with the WBC, edged closer to a maiden world-title shot with a 17th straight win.

Scotney too slick for game Motu

It was far from an easy day at the office, but Scotney proved her worth against a game challenger.

The home fighter started well, landing a crunching left hook and a jab to the body in round one, before the head clash in a clinch caused blood to pour down from her left eye.

Scotney’s corner went to work on the cut between rounds. Earlier this month, her stablemate Caroline Dubois’ world-title defence ended in a technical draw after an accidental clash of heads.

Motu took the centre of ring and showed strong fundamentals and a willingness to trade, landing an impressive combination in the fourth.

But Scotney began to control the contest with her quick feet. The Catford fighter switched attacks from to head and body, before expertly moving out of range.

Two body shots, an uppercut and three clean rights landed flush on Motu in the fifth.

“Shane, shall I go forward?”, Scotney asker her trainer, Shane McGuigan, before the seventh.

Motu, vying to become New Zealand’s first unified world champion, did not alter her gameplan but Scotney was wise to it.

She continued to pick Motu apart in the closing rounds as the two fighters embraced at the final bell.

Not a main event star… yet

An all-female card on 8 March in London, headlined by Natasha Jonas v Lauren Price, signals the depth of talent in women’s boxing.

Yet there are a number of female fighters, the likes of world champions Scotney and Caroline Dubois, who – despite their achievements – are still not handed main event status.

In fact, Scotney-Motu was third from top billing with the first bell sounding to a half-empty arena, even with the top tier of the venue closed off, at around 20:00 GMT.

While headline slots are often handed to local fighters and big ticket sellers, it is a stark reminder that work is still to be done in raising the profile of the female code in Britain, and its champions.

Promoters Matchroom are confident Scotney can unify the division the year with wins over WBA champion Nazarena Romero and WBC title-holder Yamileth Mercado. An undisputed title tag will help catapult her to stardom.

A move up to featherweight to challenge for a world title is Scotney’s longer-term plan.

“I want to be undisputed, but people have to be willing to fight and people have to be willing to pay,” she said.

“I also know that names is what you need, so I’m looking at featherweight and I’m looking at Skye Nicolson.”

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