Rhiannon Dixon: “I think it will be my coming out party. I feel like if I win this fight and look good doing it, it will lead me on to massive things.”

Rhiannon Dixon: “I think it will be my coming out party. I feel like if I win this fight and look good doing it, it will lead me on to massive things.”

What started in White Collar a few years ago, has now morphed into more. Much more.

Rhiannon Dixon is one of those feel-good stories boxing needs. Maybe now more than ever. There is more than a case that she has gone under the radar somewhat since she made her Matchroom debut in 2021 at the Manchester Arena. But her time away from the spotlight has allowed Dixon to develop, a work in progress for sure. But progress is the keyword.

The unbeaten southpaw has been developing quite nicely away from the bright lights that some of her contemporaries have been afforded. It would have been too easy to thrust the promising Warrington fighter into fights that she wasn’t ready for and in the process do irreparable damage to her career. But the slow burn and careful matchmaking has served its purpose, but her fighting apprenticeship could be coming to an end.

On the 30th of September Dixon will travel to the Wembley Arena to fight the world-class Katharina Thanderz for the vacant European title. The fight has been a long time coming for both fighters, a planned summer meeting has now finally been set for an autumn showdown with the winner potentially looking forward to a world title fight in 2024.

“Training has been really good, Dixon told me over Zoom just a few minutes removed from her latest training session. “We thought we were fighting in July and now we are fighting at the end of September. But it’s just been a massive amount of time to learn and get fit and not worry about making weight. I have been around fight weight for a while so I have been able to focus on learning which has been good for this camp.”

The talk has been constant since the former world champion Anthony Crolla entered the fray that steady progression is key, and at 28, Dixon has plenty of time to develop her skills. Since her professional debut in 2019 and her entry into the Matchroom world, the matchmaking for Dixon has been sensible with gradual increases in the quality of her opponents. With every fight, Dixon seems to improve and show something a little different each time she steps into the ring. The fight for the European title is by some distance her most important fight to date, but Dixon feels she has been dealing with these types of fights for the last year or so.

“I think every fight feels more important because my career is about progression. So from Kristine Shergold to Vicki Wilkinson and even Mahjouba Oubtil in Bilbao, I have had to overcome different things. Even though I was the home fighter in Spain I did feel like the away fighter. Obviously, with Kristine it was doing 8 rounds and then with Vicki it was for the Commonwealth title. I feel every fight is getting more important and this is the next step in that progression.”

With the shackles being lifted a little, Dixon is under no illusions that the Norweigian former world title challenger is her toughest challenge to date, and she has prepared accordingly. Thanderz only has one defeat in her seventeen-fight career, a stoppage loss to Terri Harper in 2020, but she has rebounded with three wins since that defeat for the unified world super-featherweight titles and comes to London with real ambitions of her own.

“She is the best opponent that I have fought, Dixon told FightPost. “But like I always say the better the dance partner the better it brings out in you. I have stepped my training up massively. I have been sparring with some unbelievable sparring partners like Mikaela Mayer, Hannah Rankin and Hannah Robinson.” The type of quality sparring that can’t fail to bring rewards.

Dixon had no amateur experience when she launched her boxing journey. A handful of fights on the White Collar scene, all wins, has now developed into Dixon being labelled one of the best prospects in the sport. That pro debut in 2019 was one of nerves, and Dixon remembers it well.

“I remember someone saying I have never seen someone looking so out of place walking to the ring. They think I am shitting myself, I’m not, I’m just shy around the camera. But when the bell rings everything changes because you don’t notice anything else and you are just focused on one thing. I look back on my debut and I wish I would have enjoyed it more. But I am going off that now, I’m going to enjoy it now because I will never get this time back.”

Since that win over the tough Lithuaniun Vaida Masiokaite, Dixon is now unbeaten in eight professional fights, and the stoppage win over the recently retired Wilkinson earlier this year in Liverpool earned Dixon the Commonwealth lightweight title. A win over Thanderz will put the Warrington fighter right in the mix when the inevitable happens next year, and the world lightweight titles currently held by Katie Taylor, splinter into several pieces.

“I’ve gone from White Collar to this, it’s getting serious now. But I’m excited about it though,” Dixon says knowing the level she is heading towards. “I think it will be my coming out party. I feel like if I win this fight and look good doing it, it will lead me on to massive things. I’ll be fighting next in December and then we will see what happens in 2024. All the belts are tied up with all these superfights, but I don’t mind having all these learning fights and getting my experience that way. I’m not looking past Katharina because she is a good fighter so I am just going to concentrate on her for now. I am doing every single thing I can to win this fight.”

The nerves of that Bolton debut are now long gone. Dixon is excited and seems to carry around no pressure about what could be in her future. She feels the lack of an amateur pedigree is something that will help her rather than hinder her progress.

“I feel as though as I am getting older and further along in my career the nerves are not there as much because I am now just enjoying it. And with me, because I don’t have that amateur background there are no expectations with me. People who have been on Team GB are expected to become world champions and there is a lot of pressure on them. But with me, I am just taking each fight and each opportunity as they come.”

The fight with Thanderz is the opportunity to force her way into the world title talk if any of those world titles become vacant within the next six months. Dixon talks about looking good in winning, but sometimes a win is all you need. The odds favour the British fighter to continue her good progress, and while she would like to stop her opponent, going ten rounds for the first time in her career won’t do Dixon any harm at all. It would be another little box ticked, and will more than serve her well going forward. The fight with Thanderz is a vital step for the Crolla-trained prodigy. Dixon is undoubtedly a talented fighter, Thanderz I feel will show just how talented she is. And if the plaudits and impressive gym reports that surround Rhiannon Dixon do her justice, the Norwegian could very well be in the wrong place at the wrong time.