Raven Chapman: “The fight with Skye Nicolson deserves to be on the big stage. I think it’s where we both should be.”

Raven Chapman: “The fight with Skye Nicolson deserves to be on the big stage. I think it’s where we both should be.”

We haven’t seen Raven Chapman inside a boxing ring since last December. A victory over Lucie Sedlackova at the York Hall that extended her resume to 8-0.

The unbeaten featherweight contender has been out of action since due to a lingering shoulder injury that has slowed down her impressive progress since Chapman turned professional in 2021.

But her return is imminent. A return in a few months is pencilled in. Plans are in place. A big fight awaits down the line.

“Yeah, we are getting there now,” Chapman told me over Zoom. “I am working with the physio just that last little bit of healing now to promote all the healing and get the shoulder back strong so I can start punching again. I can’t wait for that, but I have got a couple more weeks of physio first. It feels like it has taken ages because it took a long time after my last fight to get a scan and then you get told what the damage is and it takes a long time to get to the nitty-gritty of what the issue actually is. But we are on the road to recovery, and we are nearly there now, which is good.”

Chapman was moving swiftly along. The many plaudits were coming with each passing victory. Injuries are part and parcel of a brutal unforgiving sport. But for a fighter who is very much on the rise, it does seem like a minor inconvenience. Chapman has retained her spot. Only a few months have been lost. You sense time that will very quickly be retrieved when she gets back to punching for a living again in the summer.

The current frustrations have been handled with some degree of comfort. You sense if there was a time for a short injury hit hiatus, it was now.

“It has been quite frustrating. It’s been hard not being able to go to the gym and train it’s something I usually do every day,” Chapman says of her time away. “Suddenly, I have a lot of time on my hands. That’s hard, but I am lucky in the sense that it’s come at a time that I had other stuff in my life going on to keep me busy. I’ve moved house, so I have had all that to sort out. So, I have had that to focus on to keep my mind occupied. That has definitely allowed me to stay a lot more positive. Also, it would be a lot more frustrating if it had set me off the path I was on. But nothing has changed with the route I was going on. I haven’t lost out on any opportunities. That’s something else that has allowed me to stay positive. It has allowed my body to have a reset and a little rest for the first time in about five years. But now I can start to slowly get back into it and get back in there in June or July, which is realistic.”

The summer return will set the scene for what lies ahead. A southpaw opponent in mind for the biggest fight of her life, tentatively set for September. The Australian Skye Nicolson recently claimed the vacant WBC world featherweight title, and Chapman is her mandatory challenger. September or not, Chapman will very soon get her chance at Nicolson.

“The plan is to get the opponent I was last scheduled to fight in March. To get that southpaw experience because a lot of people are southpaw at my weight. Obviously, Skye Nicolson is one, so the plan was to have a double southpaw camp, so the only people I was fighting for six months were southpaws. I am kind of surrounded by them, so it is good to just focus on that style. I have fought plenty of southpaws as an amateur, but as a pro, I haven’t done. So it is just getting back into the mindset of fighting that kind of opponent.

“I think the idea is to fight Skye in September. I think it would be really good to get a female fight on the 5v5. It will be in the UK and at Wembley, so there won’t be the same kind of politics. The fight with Skye Nicolson deserves to be on the big stage. I think it’s where we both should be. All being well that’s the plan to have that fight in July and then take the mandatory with Skye in September.”

Nicolson took the vacant WBC bauble, a title discarded by Amanda Serrano, courtesy of a one-sided victory over the veteran former world champion Sarah Mahfoud. It was another sign of the times for the women’s side of the sport. The ‘old’ making way for the new breed of talent that is sweeping through the sport. Chapman is part of the new brigade and saw the Nicolson Mahfoud fight as another example of the revolution on her side of the sport.

“They talk a lot in women’s boxing about the old crop of fighters compared to the new crop of fighters who are coming through with that amateur pedigree. Sarah is very much part of that old guard. You can really see that the new breed are much more skilful, we are better boxers, we are fitter. Which is only good for the future of women’s boxing because it shows the levels that we are actually at. We are raising the bar every time.”

Nicolson was dominant in that win over Mahfoud. The pattern was set from the early seconds. In truth, the result was never in doubt. Mahfoud didn’t or couldn’t do what was needed. The Australian did what she needed to do. Her evasive style is one very much for the purists. It might not work for everyone. But it most certainly works for Skye Nicolson.

The fight went exactly how Chapman saw it beforehand.

“I thought the fight went how I thought it would go,” Chapman says of the fight in Las Vegas for the vacant WBC title. “I hoped Sarah would give her a few more problems. But Skye was all wrong for Sarah. It wasn’t the most interesting fight to watch. Skye did what she had to do. She stuck to the game plan and didn’t see the need to get involved. But it was not the most exciting fight, and I only watched the highlights, and even that was just the same thing over and over.”

The Nicolson showboating in the closing moments of the fight did draw some criticism. It wasn’t to Chapman’s liking either.

“I think if it had been an exciting fight, then fair enough. But to just sit on the back foot and not really engage, and just potshot your way to a victory and then showboat. That’s great, but you ran away for ten rounds. It’s not that impressive. If it had been a fair competitive fight, then fair play, but don’t do it in a fight like that.”

Nicolson has breezed through her ten professional fights to date. Only Tania Alvarez caused her some semblance of doubt. But Chapman has had tough fights. Tough moments. Problems to solve. Something that Chapman believes will work in her favour when they meet later this year. But Chapman is also convinced her style will also cause the former Olympian major problems.

“Her style is tricky to fight and box against. Every fighter has been picked for Skye because they come at her in straight lines. I won’t be doing that. I am aggressive. I am a front-foot fighter. I can box as well, and that is the difference. I won’t be coming forward with no skill. My style is a massive problem for Skye Nicolson. She’s had fights that have been well-matched for her, but eventually, that goes against you. I’ve had tough fighters in some tough conditions. Fights that make you learn for when you do step up. But I haven’t found anyone hard yet.”

A fight with Skye Nicolson for the WBC world featherweight title is more than likely before the year ends, but the dream fight for Raven Chapman is one with Amanda Serrano, who still holds every other major world featherweight title. But with the former undisputed champion and multi-weight world champion scheduled to meet Katie Taylor in the coming months, and a possible third fight to follow, the Puerto Rican could be locked out of her own division until 2025, with the featherweight ranks placed on lockdown while Serrano does her thing with Taylor..

“You either have to defend the title or give the belts up,” Chapman says of the situation. “I don’t say that lightly because I would love the fight with Serrano. Our respective styles would make a great fight. It is a little bit frustrating in the featherweight division at the moment, but at the same time, you have just got to trust the process and hope the opportunities will become available.”

Those opportunities will surely start coming through. A ‘comeback’ fight that will ease Chapman back into the fold before it starts to get a little more serious just before Autumn arrives. Nicolson and Chapman is a fight their side of the sport needs. But for different reasons, the two fighters need it more. A chance to convince and prove that they are the future of their division. The winner will then hope they can tempt Amanda Serrano to fight them.