Rhiannon Dixon: “If other people want to call me out that’s fine, but I really don’t care. I want to just focus on myself.”

Rhiannon Dixon: “If other people want to call me out that’s fine, but I really don’t care. I want to just focus on myself.”

I first interviewed Rhiannon Dixon in February 2020. The Warrington lightweight hopeful was then at the start of her professional journey. Two fights in, a handful of white-collar fights, no amateur experience, any talk of titles back then seemed fanciful. But even back then, titles were already in her mind. There was always something about Dixon that indicated a golden future in boxing. Even in her infancy in the sport, Dixon always had belief in her ability and potential.

Three years ago, when she perhaps had no right to say such things, Dixon spoke of one day getting into a position where she would be able to fight for titles. Fast forward those three years and Dixon has not only worked her way into that position she is now the Commonwealth lightweight champion. A trip to Liverpool last month earned Dixon the vacant bauble courtesy of a 6th round stoppage victory over the previously unbeaten Vicki Wilkinson.

“Being the Commonwealth champion is massively surreal,” is how Dixon describes the feeling of winning her first professional title.

Those three years have been eventful, to say the least. Without the pandemic and a serious hand injury that required an operation at the start of 2022, Dixon would likely have been much further along in her career. But those events have brought her valuable time. A change in trainer saw the former world champion Anthony Crolla enter Dixon’s boxing life. The importance of that decision shouldn’t be lost. In many ways, Crolla has brought many things to the party.

Dixon has improved steadily, courtesy of some excellent progressive matchmaking. Fights that have allowed her to show her development. The Commonwealth title opportunity came a little sooner than expected, a couple of ten-rounders were planned before a fight for the vacant title was secured Dixon told me over Zoom:

“I thought I would be doing a couple of 8-rounders and then move on to 10-round fights. We weren’t really thinking about a title fight but then this opportunity came up and Anthony said I was definitely ready for it. And then I said I would love to do it if Anthony and my manager Paul Ready were confident in me.”

Dixon has often been overly self-critical of her performances at times, knowing that what she has shown under the bright lights isn’t what she has shown behind closed doors. But she told me that she always had confidence that she would win titles:

“I’ve always believed I could win titles. Obviously, at certain points, things get a little harder and then you start to think is this really possible. But then I get more self-confidence and with every training camp I am getting better and better. But you know with certain fights I get disappointed with my performances and I can’t even watch it back because I have not done in the ring what I have been doing in training. But I have always had self-belief especially now I have finished work and I can now concentrate on my boxing. I am putting everything into my boxing now.”

Three years ago, Dixon was only part-time in the sport. The day job as a pharmacist in an NHS Hospital was her vocation. It took time away from her sport, and it was incredibly stressful, especially at the height of the pandemic in 2020. But with new management and additional sponsorship now locked in, Dixon now has the luxury of putting the day job temporarily to one side. Now a full-time boxer, Dixon is very much seeing and feeling the benefits:

“It has made a massive difference. I used to go to work at six in the morning so I could finish work early so I could go to training from two while five. And then I would go home have my tea and then go out training again after that. I would get home absolutely knackered. So having sponsorships and being able to train full-time has made a big difference to me. I can now spend more time working on my technique for example, where before I couldn’t do that.”

The win over Wilkinson in Liverpool in March to claim her maiden professional title was also her first stoppage victory. The way the first five rounds were going an inside-the-distance victory didn’t look imminent. Dixon was winning but was being made to work for her success. The way the fight ended came as a surprise even to the new Commonwealth champion:

“I really thought I was getting ready for a really hard 10 rounds. I kept on reading about her work rate and I spoke to some girls who had sparred with her and they said she was very fit and stuff like that and I thought I was in for a really hard fight and I genuinely didn’t think that I would stop her. And then I did stop her and thought what the fuck. You could see on my face I didn’t believe it.

“It came out of nowhere, but Anthony saw it in round one. He told me to keep going to the body because you are getting a reaction every time.”

There is a special bond between the Rhiannon Dixon inner circle. The trust she has with Crolla and her manager Paul Ready is a rare one. Dixon expressed several times during our interview how she knows Crolla and Ready have her best interests at heart. Trust me, that isn’t always the case in boxing. In the immediate seconds after Dixon had claimed the Commonwealth title her first thoughts were to Crolla and the pair shared a nice moment in the ring. It meant plenty to both:

“It was a nice moment to have with Anthony as well. He didn’t have to take me and James Moorcroft on when he did. Anthony had literally only just finished his boxing career when he started training us so it was a nice way to pay him back for all the time and effort that he has put into us. He has made a massive difference to my life. People can see the difference between my debut to the boxer that I am today. Anthony was the reason why I got picked up by Matchroom, he was always saying to Eddie that I have got this fighter and showing him videos of me. He has always pushed for me. Anthony does so much for me and it was really nice to give him that moment.”

The win and the moment were even more special because there were serious doubts Dixon would even fight. When the scheduled headliner for the Liverpool show Callum Smith pulled out injured there were genuine fears the entire card would be cancelled as a result. But even before that, Dixon had to take a week off training after catching a bug that was running through her gym putting her involvement on the show at risk:

“About four weeks before the fight everyone in the gym got really ill. It got to the point where we were taking it day by day and we did think at one stage that we might not even fight. I just wanted to get back to 100%. I was flying before that. I was hitting all my numbers and then that illness literally just wrote me off. I was just trying to see if I could build back and get all the momentum back again and focus on just getting well again. I really did think I was going to have the opportunity taken away from me just because I got ill.”

Dixon 27, is only eight fights into her professional career and despite winning her first title she knows that she isn’t the finished article just yet. The last four fights specifically have shown different facets of her game. and crucially the immense potential she undoubtedly has. A work still in progress, but a fighter who seemingly has even bigger titles ahead. Dixon and her team are in no rush, and the fighter is content with where she is at the moment:

“I am just really enjoying learning at the moment,” Dixon says. “I know I still have a lot to learn and I know I am not the finished product yet. I enjoy picking up new things and showing them in my fights. I am progressing and I am showing new things every single fight. I am just so excited to see what I will look like this next year or the year after that.”

Even before the title was won last month, some of her domestic rivals were showing an interest in fighting the winner. But the likes of Caroline Dubois and Jordan Barker-Porter and others are likely to be left disappointed if they have aspirations for a fight with Dixon, at least in the short term. The Warrington fighter has her own path and Dubois and Barker-Porter do not appear to be part of her immediate plans:

“If other people want to call me out that’s fine, but I really don’t care. I want to just focus on myself.” Dixon told me, clearly a fighter who will not be tempted away from what her team has planned for her.

A summer return is being planned for fight number nine. A sensible approach is being taken, an understanding that gaining further experience is key to what lies ahead. Another little sign that the fighter is in safe hands:

“I will be out again in July time depending on what shows they have available for me. The last fight was my first ten-rounder but it didn’t go ten rounds so maybe defend my Commonwealth title and actually get ten rounds in. At this point in my career, it’s really important to get the championship rounds in.”

A lot has changed in the three years since our first interview. The potential has always been there, even in those early days. Within a few punches being thrown on her debut, the experienced and durable veteran Vaida Masiokaite was on the canvas. Crolla strongly believes he has something very special on his hands with the talented southpaw. The evidence so far indicates he might be right. Dixon has a shiny new Matchroom contract and clearly, Eddie Hearn sees a big future for a fighter that has gone under the radar somewhat in her career to date. The win over Wilkinson and the main card treatment she got in Liverpool, will mean that Dixon will go under the radar no more. A serious prospect that will only get better in the coming years. Don’t rule out Dixon being on the brink of a world title by the close of play next year.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing