Nicola Hopewell: “I am looking forward to my fight with Shannon Ryan. I have always wanted to be on a Matchroom show. I am just excited for the whole experience.”

Nicola Hopewell: “I am looking forward to my fight with Shannon Ryan. I have always wanted to be on a Matchroom show. I am just excited for the whole experience.”

It’s been a period of immense frustration for Nicola Hopewell. Last July, Hopewell defeated Marie Connan by split decision to claim the IBO flyweight title. It should have led to bigger and better opportunities. But like many on the female side of the sport, the phone largely stayed silent.

“It has been frustrating,” Hopewell told FightPost over Zoom. “I have had two offers of fights. But they both fell through before they got announced.”

Evelin Bermudez, the reigning WBA, IBF, and WBO unified light-flyweight champion, was that opponent. A potential fight date in March on a planned Boxxer show at the Royal Albert Hall came and went as quickly as it came. Another opportunity with Bermudez in Argentina also came and went without reward. As did a possible defence of her IBO title against a Spanish opponent. A good win that should have led to more instead gave way to radio silence. At a time in her career when she couldn’t afford a lengthy period without fighting.

But the phone finally did ring, and Hopewell will end her somewhat extended ring hiatus this Saturday against Shannon Ryan in Wolverhampton on a Matchroom card live on DAZN. But even that didn’t go smoothly. “I was supposed to be defending my title against Shannon Ryan, but then we got told that she couldn’t make the weight,” Hopewell relayed to me. “The fight I agreed to first was to defend my IBO title against her, but then, a few days later, the fight was still on, but at super-flyweight.”

Hopewell (8-1) gets a delayed appearance on the big show. An opportunity to open a few more doors. A chance to shine on the big stage. The Worksop fighter will fight Ryan with the Commonwealth and IBF Intercontinental super-flyweight titles on the line. The 34-year-old has previously shared rounds with her next opponent.

“I think she is decent,” Hopewell says of Ryan. “I sparred with her when she was getting ready for her fight with Chloe Watson. I think I did ok with her. Shannon was two weeks out from that fight, but I had not sparred since my fight in July.”

The route to victory is an obvious one for Hopewell. Ryan starts incredibly fast, and Hopewell can be guilty of coming out of the blocks a little too slow at times. Hopewell is probably the fighter who has the better gas tank, but she knows that she will have to go with Ryan in those crucial opening four rounds.

“I think I get better as the fight goes on. I warm into the fight the longer it goes. I don’t know why, but I always start a bit slow. We have talked about having to start faster for this fight. I can’t start slow. I have to get in there. But sensibly.

Hopewell, who is ranked 13th at flyweight by the IBF, knows a victory over Shannon Ryan could change the trajectory of her career. The IBF has Ryan as the number one-ranked super-flyweight in the world, and Hopewell knows a victory will propel her to the upper echelons of the world rankings. “It will open a lot of doors for me. It will push me up the IBF rankings.”

The fight on Saturday night will represent a significant moment in the career of Nicola Hopewell. A long-standing desire to fight on this kind of platform will finally be realised. “I am looking forward to my fight with Shannon Ryan. I have always wanted to be on a Matchroom show. I am just excited for the whole experience.”       

Hopewell is right to be excited about what lies ahead this weekend. The betting odds favour Ryan, but not significantly so. But for Hopewell, it’s different in so many ways. There is no pressure, only from within. A fight where she has more to gain than lose. And sometimes that can be the difference between winning and losing. Hopewell will hope that applies on Saturday night.