Under The Radar: Maiseyrose Courtney

Under The Radar: Maiseyrose Courtney

There are many fighters who don’t get the recognition or the promotion that they deserve. In simple terms, fighters who deserve a bigger push. They could be an up-and-coming undefeated prospect. A fighter who has suffered a few early career defeats, but their resume hides a fighter who deserves a little more attention. It could even be a champion who, despite being a national or even a world champion, is still going under the radar somewhat. Maiseyrose Courtney is one such fighter.

Not so long ago, Maiseyrose Courtney was an unbeaten fighter. Six fights. Six wins. Major titles were seemingly in her future. Only a matter of time before the big nights and the big fights come her way.

But last July at the Copper Box Arena in London, I was ringside when Courtney lost that unbeaten record to the talented and now European champion Jasmina Zapotoczna. With that defeat, all her momentum was lost. In many ways, that defeat cost her plenty. Two low-key wins followed that fight with Zapotoczna, but a hamstring injury has kept her out of the ring since a routine six-round points victory over Jasmina Nad in January.

“Obviously, the defeat doesn’t help,” Courtney told me over Zoom when I asked her why she thought that she was now going under the radar somewhat. “That probably kick-started it. People lose interest when someone loses, even though it is wrong.”

As I have referenced in previous articles, the domestic flyweight ranks are littered with potential opponents for all of the plethora of talent that resides in and around that division. But fights have been hard to come by of late. “We’ve made offers to fight Laura Pain,” a clearly frustrated Courtney told me. “So, hopefully, that is still in the pipeline, but she has got that fight on November 30th, so I don’t know how that will play out now.”

“Some fighters are picky, and they haven’t got time to be picky,” Courtney added, almost certainly in reflection of the current landscape on the female side of the sport.

Courtney is relishing the prospect of being back in regular action again, but she is also considering all her options going forward. “I just want to go back to being active now,” Courtney told me. “I am obviously a ten-round fighter, but I have been out a long time, so I will probably have a tune-up fight just to get back in the swing of things. But I don’t know what to do to put myself back in position. Do I move down a weight, go up a weight, or stay at flyweight? It’s trying to work it all out to see what’s best for me.

“Maybe fight Nicola Hopewell for the IBO title, but it’s not really an interesting fight. The IBO is a title to win, but it’s not a proper world title, is it? It doesn’t sit well with me. But let’s see if she would take the fight for the British title. The British title would be more interesting because nobody has ever won it before. It would be a statement piece more than anything. It’s a big part of boxing to become a British champion. I’m quite old-school, and now that the women are doing it, you might as well do it as well. I would love to be a British champion. Of course, I would love to fight for a world title, but when I retire, I might kick myself if I didn’t become a British champion.”

There is a big domestic showdown coming up in October. Chloe Watson and Shannon Ryan will face each other at super-flyweight. Maiseyrose Courtney wants to fight the winner. “I think Shannon Ryan and Chloe Watson is a brilliant fight. If it were there, I would fight the winner for sure. I think it would be a wicked fight, and then the winner of that could fight Jasmina Zapotoczna. It all makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Having been out of the ring since January because of that hamstring injury, Courtney is looking to end her extended hiatus in the coming months before a much bigger fight before the year ends. “Hopefully, I will be out soon in a six or an eight-rounder, and then I’ve been promised a big fight in December.”

One defeat changed everything for Maiseyrose Courtney. Injury has played its part, of course, but the 24-year-old has lost a year of her career as a result of that loss to Zapotoczna. But her age and undoubted ability should see Courtney recover from what was lost at the Copper Box Arena. Time is on her side.