Emma Dolan Beats Nicola Hopewell To Retain Her Commonwealth Super-Flyweight Title

Emma Dolan Beats Nicola Hopewell To Retain Her Commonwealth Super-Flyweight Title

It was a bridge too far for Nicola Hopewell and maybe a weight too far also.

Emma Dolan won a thoroughly deserved unanimous decision over Hopewell to retain her Commonwealth super-flyweight title on Friday night in Sheffield after ten really good rounds. The scores were wide, 98-92, 99-91, and 98-93, which was a little harsh on the brave gutsy challenger. From ringside, I had it 97-93 for Dolan, although 96-94 wouldn’t have looked out of place. Hopewell finished strong, and I thought she had a really good 10th round, landing some good hard shots, but it came too late to save her unbeaten record. To her credit, Hopewell never stopped trying to turn the tide and was by no means disgraced in defeat and shouldn’t be written off. It was her first ten-rounder, and the whole experience will undoubtedly make her a better fighter going forward.

Every round was competitive, and some were hard to score, and Hopewell wasn’t credited enough for some excellent work at times. The Worksop fighter found success. Dolan just found more. Sometimes, it’s as simple as that.

Dolan controlled the distance enough to leave Hopewell falling in and missing with too many of her shots. It wasn’t an easy night’s work for Dolan by any stretch of the imagination, but there was little doubt who won. A good fight between two good fighters.

Hopewell drops to 3-1, but will come again, hopefully, at flyweight, where I think she would be better suited. I thought as early as the 3rd round, that Dolan just looked too big for her. Hopewell will still find success at super-flyweight, I just think she will find more elsewhere.

Dolan (6-0) will move onto bigger things, and the hope is that further domestic challenges against the likes of Shannon Ryan and Lauren Parker will materialise.

Photo Credit: GBM Sports