The FightPost Preview: Molly McCann vs. Ebonie Cotton

The FightPost Preview: Molly McCann vs. Ebonie Cotton

It might be a fight that gets lost in the mix this weekend. A Boxxer card in Derby that features an intriguing British heavyweight title fight that welcomes the BBC back into the fold, and the Ben Whittaker Matchroom debut in Birmingham, could result in Molly McCann and Ebonie Cotton going under the radar somewhat. But it most definitely carries a certain amount of interest that is worth exploring. Several hours before Whittaker makes his maiden Matchroom ring walk at the top of the card, McCann and Cotton will look to move their fledgling careers a little further forward.

McCann has fight number two on Saturday night after leaving the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts behind her. The former UFC-ranked flyweight won an ABA title before she saw more opportunities in MMA over a decade ago, and the 35-year-old impressed on her professional boxing debut in September when she stopped the tough Kate Radomska in the 6th round of their fight in Belfast. Radomska has given plenty of ‘prospects’ hard nights, but McCann dominated her in a fashion that was highly encouraging for what could lie ahead. The Liverpool fighter and her promoter, Eddie Hearn, are looking at world titles in the coming years; the performance against Radomska gives these aspirations a touch of reality.

But Ebonie Cotton isn’t coming to Birmingham just to make up the numbers. Cotton has a golden opportunity under the bright lights to gatecrash the party and move her own career in a completely different direction. A win over Molly McCann, and everything changes for her.

After an extremely brief amateur career, Cotton made her professional debut in June in Wolverhampton with a comprehensive four-round points victory over Kira Carter, and she advances to six rounds for the fight with McCann. The 31-year-old is a significant betting underdog at 11-2, with McCann odds on to win at 1/9. The odds of an upset might be long, but Cotton will not see them as impossible. She knows what a victory will mean to her career. Cotton is the fighter with nothing to lose and everything to gain. She seems extremely confident of securing the upset, but McCann is several levels above anyone she has ever fought.

Both fighters deserve immense credit for taking the fight. McCann could have picked a far easier debut than Radomska, and she could have fought the usual imported suspects to pad her record. McCann was always matched hard in the UFC. Easy fights are seemingly not for her. Cotton also could have taken the same predictable fights many others do, easy wins against opponents who just come to survive.

“I truly believe that boxing saved my life,” Cotton told me earlier this year. “I mean that in so many aspects. It allowed me to find peace. It gave me a structure and focus. It created a purpose for me. Something that I have never felt before. It gave me a safe space, and every human should be able to have that.”

McCann, like her next opponent, has found solace and peace in combat sports. In different ways, their lives have been changed by their sports. Both are seriously impressive individuals.

The odds strongly suggest McCann will move to 2-0, but Cotton has found her happy place in boxing and shouldn’t be overlooked. Unlike many on the ‘B side’ of the card, Ebonie Cotton is coming to win. Belief can take you a long way.

But Molly McCann is the fighter expecting to win. I thought McCann should have made the switch back to boxing a few years ago, but now that she is back where it all started, she looks intent on making a rapid progression through the ranks.

The fight on Saturday night will give us a good indication of just how far both McCann and Cotton can go in the sport. A good fight that deserves a little more attention.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing