Rhiannon Dixon: A Brand New Start & A Brand New Weight

Rhiannon Dixon: A Brand New Start & A Brand New Weight

On March 28th in Altrincham, Rhiannon Dixon will commence her new beginning. It will be a Friday night affair that Dixon hopes will give her career new life and end further down the road with a second reign as a world champion—and at a second weight.

The defeat to Terri Harper last September in Sheffield not only took away the unbeaten record of the Warrington fighter but also her WBO world lightweight title. It was a calculated risk to make the first defence of her WBO bauble against the vastly more experienced Harper. It was a gamble most certainly worth taking, but one that didn’t go according to plan. Dixon was competitive throughout. She had one very big moment in the 6th round that very nearly swung the fight definitively in her favour, before ultimately coming up short on the scorecards. Harper left the Canon Medical Arena in Sheffield, a three-weight world champion. Dixon left South Yorkshire contemplating her next move.

After a period of reflection, Rhiannon Dixon has now made that move. On March 28th, Dixon will take the first tentative steps towards another assault on the world stage. While Dixon will always want another crack at redemption against Terri Harper, she is also seeking a world title in a second weight division. That early spring outing will see Dixon take a catchweight fight with the ultimate aim of campaigning in the super-featherweight division. A sensible approach to see how her body feels at the lower weight before what looks like an inevitable permanent move to the 130 ranks.

“I am really excited to see how I feel,” Dixon told me earlier this month. “I want to be a two-weight world champion.”

It could be the right move at the right time. It could be an inspired piece of timing in a sport where time is so crucial to career advancement.

Alycia Baumgardner, the undisputed world super-featherweight champion, could be an enticing possibility before the year ends. But with the American fast running out of worthwhile competition at 130, Baumgardner is likely to seek pastures new long before then, and the super-featherweight titles will then fragment, leaving four world titles up grabs. Dixon picked up the vacant WBO world lightweight title last April when Katie Taylor vacated and went elsewhere. It’s not that hard to envisage Dixon doing the same at super-featherweight if and when Baumgardner targets bigger fights and the higher weights.

It’s far too easy to write a fighter off after they lose their unbeaten record. Far too much emphasis is placed on that ever-so-precious 0. A strange modern-day phenomenon that doesn’t seemingly allow for even the slightest of blemishes on a fighter’s resume. But Dixon can take inspiration from the likes of Natasha Jonas and even the fighter who took away that unbeaten record in September. Jonas and Harper recovered from early career setbacks to win and regain world titles. Make no mistake, Rhiannon Dixon is more than capable of replicating their achievements.

It might not have seemed like it in the immediate aftermath of that painful defeat to Harper, but it could just be the making of Rhiannon Dixon. While you can never be certain how the body will react at a lighter weight, but if Dixon can operate effectively at 130, then another reign as a world champion can’t be ruled out. With lessons learned and experience gained, a second reign could very easily be far more rewarding than the first.