Ringside Report: Nicola Hopewell Retains Her Commonwealth Flyweight Title

Ringside Report: Nicola Hopewell Retains Her Commonwealth Flyweight Title

There were some worried faces as Nicola Hopewell waited to enter the ring on Saturday night at the Skate Central in Sheffield to defend her Commonwealth flyweight bauble against the once-beaten Nigerian Mary Aina Abbey.

Abbey and her team oozed confidence as she made her way to the ring. The word from ringside was that the challenger fancied it. Abbey came to win. They expected to win. Ten stoppages in her twelve-career wins portrayed Abbey as a real danger woman. The smell of an upset was rife. Trust me, there was real concern.

But Hopewell served up her best performance to date and literally beat that confidence out of her challenger. After a close tense opening three rounds, Hopewell pulled away to thoroughly dominate the tough Nigerian.

The Worksop edged the opening two rounds on my card. Two effective attacks in the closing stages of each round sealed those rounds for the champion. I gave Abbey the third, but I could only give her one further round as Hopewell asserted her dominance from the 4th round onwards.

Abbey was visibly starting to wilt, and Hopewell hurt the brave challenger on multiple occasions. Hopewell was in firm control, and when Abbey lost a point for persistent holding as the fight was heading down the stretch, her cause looked desperate. In truth, it had been for some time.

But Abbey was incredibly brave and did immensely well to stay in the fight despite her chances of victory being remote.

An accidental headbutt from Abbey drew blood from Hopewell, and it seemed to galvanise the challenger. But Hopewell stayed calm, even though Abbey was perhaps having her best round of the fight in the 10th, as she desperately tried to save her night. From fighting exhaustion, she suddenly found some semblance of life. And hope. But the reigning Commonwealth champion had one little trick still to play. Hopewell dropped Abbey in the closing seconds with a beautifully timed straight right hand to rubber stamp her impressive victory. The perfect end to an almost perfect performance.

All three judges gave Hopewell the victory by a wide 99-89. I had it slightly closer. But from the 4th round onwards, there was only going to be one winner.

Hopewell did well to navigate her way past a potential banana skin. A tough fight on paper was relatively easy in reality. Hopewell can now look ahead to some big nights. And fights of even more importance.

Dennis Hobson, a long-time admirer of Hopewell, signed a three-fight promotional deal with her a few days before the fight and talked about the possibility of world titles ahead for his latest signing in the immediate aftermath. The ambitions are high, but world titles or not, Hopewell will likely find her phone will ring with a plethora of options in the coming weeks.

The Hopewell team will have to decide if the Commonwealth title is a burden or a benefit going forward. You either cash in or let it go if keeping hold of it takes away control of who you fight next. A double-title showdown with the European Champion Chloe Watson is an obvious option. A good domestic showdown that could propel the winner into a world title fight.

But the Worksop fighter should be allowed to enjoy her moment. Hopewell (6-1) has turned her career right around since that defeat to Emma Dolan last year. An uncertain future is now a thing of the past. If she keeps winning and Hobson does his thing, 2025 could get even better for Nicola Hopewell. One title could turn into more. Much more.