Nicola Hopewell: “I want to have at least three fights this year and start moving up the rankings.”

Nicola Hopewell: “I want to have at least three fights this year and start moving up the rankings.”

I first met Nicola Hopewell in person back in April 2021. The world was creeping carefully out of those dark Covid times. We were still learning to live again, rules had to be followed, some of them needed to be, and some of them were on the wrong side of stupid. It was a cold April evening, in truth, it was beyond cold. An empty Worksop pub had its doors tantalisingly left open teasing the warmth that was inside. The rules of the time said we couldn’t enter, instead, we had to sit outside in the freezing air of the old mining town on a wooden bench on a night when catching hypothermia was a bigger risk to our health than Covid. Hopewell brought her friend Ebanie Bridges, her one-woman tour of her adopted stomping ground was in full force. The Australian still had the Terminator eye courtesy of her recent epic and savage brawl with Shannon Courtenay a week or so previous.

In many ways, they were different times. Bridges had just fought for a world title, and despite coming up short against Courtenay, she had proved her point and would undoubtedly be back for more. But for the hometown fighter, things looked a little less certain. Hopewell was unbeaten, and a few days away from a fight of her own. But the Worksop super-flyweight hopeful boxed away from the bright lights of the more accepted boxing world. There were promises, in boxing there always are, but despite the obvious talent, I had concerns that talent would go unfulfilled and unnoticed. Bridges had got mainstream attention and very soon it would go to another level, but I worried her friend wouldn’t quite be so fortunate. They might have shared the same bench on that unforgiving night, and they even shared the same sport, but their careers seemed to be going in completely different directions.

But with eyes opened, Hopewell now has eyes on her. And many of them. A new start, a new world, and Hopewell is now where she should have been all along, and how far she goes in boxing will largely rest on what she does with the opportunities that will surely present themselves if her unbeaten start in that new world continues throughout the coming twelve months.

Bridges is now a world champion and with an impressive and successful first defence of her IBF bantamweight title behind her, the Australian now wants to give back and help her friend on her journey. A fighter’s career isn’t always dependent on talent, ticket sales can determine where those talents end up. If anywhere. If you don’t sell enough tickets to cover your opponent’s costs. You don’t fight. But sponsorship can bridge that gap, and/or help pay the way through a training camp riddled with additional costs that many don’t see. Bridges has been there, in many ways, she has invested in her own career and is now investing in her friends. The reigning world champion has agreed to sponsor Hopewell for her next fight on February 10th, and the super-flyweight prospect is beyond grateful she told me over Zoom:

“It’s very important and it’s nice to have the likes of Ebanie supporting me. It just helps to cover all the costs from boxing and Ebanie knows how much things cost and she just wants to help us and it is really nice of her to do it. When Ebanie told me she was going to sponsor me I was a little overwhelmed and I am really grateful. Ebanie has been there and now she wants to give back, support and help people.”

After a frustrating start to 2022, Hopewell finally got her British Boxing Board of Control career up and running late last year. Hopewell ended the year with two fights and two wins. It was a year that had many ups and downs the fighter told me:

“It started as a bit of a rollercoaster but it ended up being the best year of my life for my boxing so far.”

There is a stark difference in Hopewell from that first meeting nearly two years ago. The quiet reserved person from yesteryear has long since gone. Hopewell has packed a lot into the nearly two years since that freezing initial meeting, and it has changed her in many ways. Bridges has undoubtedly helped in that transformation as has her strength and conditioning coach, friend and carpool karaoke partner in crime Marfisia Lanza. Hopewell cites many people for that change, but highlights Bridges and Lanza in particular:

“I am a lot more confident now, not just as a fighter but as a person. I think a lot of people have helped with that, Ebanie and Marfi in particular.”

The changes are not only in herself, her fighting skills and IQ have improved also. A new inner circle in her fighting corner has resulted in those improvements:

“As a fighter, I have been adding a lot more to my game and I can adapt far more now, I am not a one-dimensional fighter anymore, I can box on the back foot better now.”

The new boxing life finally got going at the home of her beloved Sheffield United last August. A near punch-perfect 6th-round stoppage victory over the experienced and durable Claudia Ferenczi. Hopewell couldn’t have wished for a better start to her professional career:

“It was the perfect venue and the perfect fight. I stopped her even though she doesn’t get stopped and even though I did stop her I still felt I learned a lot in that fight. And going into the second fight I learned even more because she was tough and awkward. I learned from that second fight not to get involved when I don’t have to because that’s when I get caught.”

2022 was just the beginning you sense. Little steps before the bigger steps that will follow this year. A Commonwealth title opportunity could be in the works if Hopewell comes through her third professional fight against the tough and experienced Bulgarian Ivanka Ivanova on February 10th in Rotherham on a GBM Sports prompted show. GBM may carry a small hall label, but their shows have more than a touch of a major show, which is where the ambitious promoter Izzy Asif wants to be sooner rather than later. Hopewell had her last fight on a GBM show in Doncaster and despite interest from elsewhere, she has decided to have her third outing on the same platform. Hopewell was impressed with what she saw last October:

“GBM throw everything at their shows. It’s also what they do behind the scenes, like the media day we have just had in Sheffield where they invited all the big media platforms down and it gives us the chance to get extra exposure and do interviews with the likes of IFL. It helps us sell more tickets and gives my sponsors more publicity. The shows are all very organised and they always look back on their previous shows and think what can we improve on for the next one. They are going places and everyone knows who they are, they have a lot of eyes on their shows.”

The plan for 2023 is a simple one for Hopewell. Stay busy, get the experience she needs and move up the boxing ladder as she does so. “I want to have at least three fights this year and start moving up the rankings,” an excited Hopewell told me. Make no mistake, she has very big plans for this year.

Ebanie Bridges has come a long way since April 2021, the supposed imposter in the world of boxing has made her critics eat their words with what she has done in a sport where many said she didn’t belong. But Hopewell will look to emulate her friend on the world stage. There is still that dream for the Worksop fighter, to appear on the same card as her friend. Boxing is a world where we can expect the unexpected, but there is a feeling that some things are meant to happen and Bridges and Hopewell appearing on the same show is one of those things. Once her recently operated on right hand has fully healed Bridges will return in the second half of this year with unification very much on her mind, and if Hopewell has advanced her resume to 4-0 or better and maybe collected a title along the way, that dream of hers could quite easily become a reality.