Nicola Hopewell: Two Years On From Her Professional Debut

Nicola Hopewell: Two Years On From Her Professional Debut

“It was everything I could have hoped for. It was the perfect debut.” Nicola Hopewell said of her first professional fight on 26th August 2022.

It had been a long time coming. Applying for a British Boxing Board of Control licence had taken longer than expected. It dragged on far longer than it needed to. There was no little relief when she was given the green light.

It was a warm Friday night in Sheffield. The home of her beloved Sheffield United. Bramall Lane would be the setting for her professional debut proper. A brave decision to move away from her past. Hopewell said it was one of her biggest regrets that she didn’t do it sooner.

The 126-fight veteran Claudia Ferenczi was imported in from Slovakia to face Hopewell. Ferenczi came to Sheffield with little ambition. She didn’t make the weight. Nine pounds overweight was a telling sign, but Hopewell didn’t care. The Worksop fighter had waited too long for this moment. A few additional pounds wasn’t going to change anything. There were no thoughts of not taking the fight.

Hopewell boxed well. She won every second of the fight and stopped Ferenczi in the 6th and final round. Hopewell didn’t put a foot wrong and won with some ease.

Two years on Hopewell has fought six times in total. Only one defeat spoils her resume. A challenge for the Commonwealth super-flyweight title ended in a points reversal to Emma Dolan. A performance that has aged incredibly well. But two fights later, Hopewell won the vacant Commonwealth flyweight title against Gemma Ruegg and will return to Sheffield on October 19th to make her first defence of her Commonwealth title. In many ways, a return to where it all started.

Photo Credit: Clive Wood Photography