Harli Whitwell: “I’m looking forward to seeing how far I have come in my next fight.”

Harli Whitwell: “I’m looking forward to seeing how far I have come in my next fight.”

It’s been just over a year since I last spoke to Harli Whitwell. She was back then preparing for her professional debut.

“It’s going pretty smoothly so far,” she told me a year on. “I’ve had a few fights at the beginning of the year that didn’t go ahead. They kept getting pushed back because I had a couple of injuries. But the last two training camps have been pretty smooth with no injuries.”

Whitwell is from a fighting family. Her father, Peter, trains her, and her sister Shona is currently lighting up the amateur scene with Team GB. But Harli is forging her own path, a decent enough amateur in her own right and when she decided to turn over last year, she was a more than interesting and talented addition to the ever-increasing female ranks.

Whitwell is from a fighting family. Her father, Stephen, trains her, and her sister Shona is currently lighting up the amateur scene with Team GB. But Harli is forging her own path, a decent enough amateur in her own right and when she decided to turn over last year, she was a more than interesting and talented addition to the ever-increasing female ranks.

Whitwell started early. She was just six when she eventually got her own way and was allowed in the family gym. If she had totally had her way, it would have come much sooner. The decision to turn professional was made in lockdown, and the unbeaten lightweight prospect has done little wrong since. Whitwell will take her unblemished 3-0 record to the York Hall this Saturday night for fight number four. Or so she hopes. The build-up like many fighters, sadly, experience has been a little problematic to say the least. The search for an opponent has been wide and frustrating, Whitwell told me over Zoom.

“We had managed to secure an opponent for this weekend. I was stressing a little bit because I didn’t think I would be fighting, and I thought it might get put back to a different show. But we finally got an opponent sorted, and I was looking forward to getting back in there. But that fight has now also fallen through so we are looking for someone else.”

Whitwell has racked up three wins as a professional. An impressive debut win over Bojana Libiszewska that ended inside the distance started the ball rolling, and last time out, Whitwell turned back the challenge of the experienced Bec Connolly in July. The career is progressing nicely, as is her battle with her confidence.

“I’ve always got a thing with my self-confidence,” Whitwell told me. “But I have gradually built myself up slowly. My first fight got stopped in the 2nd round. I was hoping it would go further than that. I didn’t think I got to show my skills in that fight because it finished so early. But in my last two fights, I think I have really come on. My dad, who is my coach, said that’s the best I have seen you. I am definitely improving, and I feel that I am improving. It is kind of learning on the job for me at the moment. I haven’t come from a Team GB background like a lot of the pro girls have, so I am trying to build my own brand and name. Mentally and physically, I am a lot stronger in the ring and in my training camps. I am still learning as I go, and I still need a few more fights, and I still have a lot to work on. Controlling the fight when I am actually in there, I need to work on that. I can switch off sometimes and become a little bit overwhelmed. That is the nerves, but I am learning to deal with them. I’m looking forward to seeing how far I have come in my next fight.”

Whitwell isn’t short of top-class sparring. World champions, future world champions, and elite amateurs have all given her valuable learning rounds in recent months.

“I’ve been sparring Maisey-Rose Courtney. She’s quite light, but she’s very good on her feet, and it gets my boxing going,” an appreciative Whitwell says. “I’ve sparred Ellie Scotney a lot. She has helped me massively with my boxing, especially my defence. Ellie is amazing to spar with. I’ve also been sparring Shauna O’Keefe, she has got her debut coming up. She’s a top amateur who’s just coming over to the pros. I’ve been sparring with some really good girls and it has really helped me. I’m feeling ready, so hopefully, that shows on Saturday night.”

Guidance is everything in boxing. Too many careers are derailed by taking the wrong fights and the wrong time. Top-quality sparring is one thing, but ignoring the temptation to rush is another. The lightweight ranks are not short on numbers or talent on the domestic scene. Caroline Dubois and Rhiannon Dixon are on the hunt for world honours in 2024, but below them, there is an argument that a British title could be warranted. Jordan Barker-Porter and Paige Murney could be both be fights that could get made for Whitwell at some point in 2024.

“My dad and my team will know when I am ready for those types of fights,” Whitwell told FightPost, a fighter happy to trust her team. “Obviously, I am still building myself up as a fighter both mentally and physically, and when I am ready, which will be in the next year, I want to be fighting for titles. It’s only my fourth fight this week, and I don’t want to throw myself in right now if I am not 100% ready. A lot of people are having a couple of fights and then fighting for titles. But once you get to that level, you need to stay there. So when I get to that level, I want to make sure I am ready so I can stay there. But there are definitely titles out there that I am interested in. I’ll be boxing at either super-featherweight or lightweight, I’ll be moving up and down. So I can box at different weights. I look at a lot of the girls in the different weight categories that I know I will definitely beat when the time is right.”

Regardless of whether Whitwell fights on Saturday night at the iconic York Hall, she will enter 2024 with much confidence. A couple more learning fights will form the early part of next year, but as the year closes don’t be surprised if Harli Whitwell is very much in the title hunt.