Ringside Report: Ellie Scotney Dominates Mea Motu In Nottingham

Ringside Report: Ellie Scotney Dominates Mea Motu In Nottingham

Ellie Scotney ended her somewhat extended ring hiatus with a dominant and thoroughly impressive victory over the tough and previously unbeaten Mea Motu in Nottingham on Saturday night.

All three judges gave it to the Catford fighter by scores of 99-91, which was how I saw it. From ringside, I gave Motu the 4th round, and the opening round was close enough for at least some debate. A round in which Motu drew blood over the left eye of Scotney, courtesy of a nasty-looking clash of heads.

But that cut which bled profusely at the point of impact was never remotely a concern for the now WBO, IBF, IBO, and Ring Magazine unified world super-bantamweight champion of the world.

Scotney was by some distance the better technically of the two. She dazzled at times with her hand speed, combinations, and footwork. Motu, who hadn’t lost in twenty previous fights, couldn’t really pin Scotney down for any real length of time. I thought the New Zealander was far too conservative at times in the opening rounds. Scotney was outboxing her with some degree of ease, and the fight was seemingly already slipping away from Motu. But in the 4th round, Motu started to let her hands go and clearly won the round on my card. Could Motu now build on her first real success of the fight?

But Scotney seized back control in the 5th, and any fleeting signs of a change in the fight trajectory were then quickly extinguished. Scotney glided her way through the second half of the fight. Three right uppercuts at close range in rapid succession caught the eye in the 8th. Scotney landed the cleaner, harder punches throughout. The scorecards might not truly reflect the effort Motu put in, but Scotney was a wide and deserved winner. In boxing terms, she was a class above her brave opponent. Ellie Scotney passed her toughest test to date as a professional with flying colours.

Scotney is one of the purest boxers around and will look to go undisputed at super-bantamweight in 2025, but she also called for a fight with Skye Nicolson at featherweight. A fight you sense, for different reasons, both need.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing