Chloe Watson: “I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t believe I could become a world champion.”
Chloe Watson has had a difficult time of late. A series of defeats, a broken hand, and life itself, but with a ‘comeback’ fight only weeks away, hopes are high that 2027 is when her career gets back on track. Right at the start of her career, the goal was to become a world champion. That goal remains unchanged. If anything, it has been hardened.
Watson (9-3) was last out in April. The former European flyweight champion suffered her third defeat in four fights when she was outpointed by the unbeaten Finnish fighter Teresa Makinen in London on Most Valuable Promotions’ first-ever UK show. I was ringside, and I thought that Watson had done enough to have had her hand raised in victory.
“Obviously, it was disheartening,” Watson told FightPost over Zoom. “I felt like I had a rough period dealing with certain things outside of the ring. As well as trying to find some momentum inside the ring. That was my mindset.
“I can remember you coming up to me after the fight, saying that you thought I had won it. But in my mind, it wasn’t my best performance. I just thought there was a bit more I could have done. After the fight, I knew I needed to get away and have some time. I have done that, and I am fighting on the 5th December. It won’t be a big fight or anything like that. It’s just to get back in the ring.”
The 26-year-old spent eight weeks in Australia training with the former undisputed world champion Cherneka Johnson. When she returned, Watson made changes to her inner circle and has returned to a gym that she calls home.
“I am back at the Hatton Gym now,” Watson says. “I made some decisions after my last fight. I had an amazing experience at the Everton Red Triangle Gym, training with the lads. But Hatton’s was my home for four years. So it’s nice to go back there. I am training with Campbell (Hatton) as well. I have got this fight in December, and I am going to keep training and keep working until a big opportunity comes up. I will be ready and grab it with both hands when it does come.”
“I want to show that you can still achieve great things after a loss,” Watson added. “You just have to keep going. I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t believe I can become a world champion. We might have to take a couple more steps to get there. But I am here for it.”
Three defeats in four fights is an unflattering statistic. But it doesn’t tell the whole story. The Birkenhead fighter lost her unbeaten record to Jasmina Zapotoczna last year. It was a wafer-thin split-decision that could have gone either way. Watson suffered another reversal to Shannon Ryan when an accidental head clash left her unable to carry on after four completed rounds. Watson lost a technical decision, but the fight ended prematurely, and there was no telling how the fight would have naturally played out. The defeat to Makinen was another close call that Watson easily could have won. But those defeats haven’t dimmed her world title ambitions.
“It’s probably motivated me more, to be honest. I feel I have got something to prove now,” Watson relayed to me. “You can still achieve what you want to achieve if you keep going. That’s my outlook on it now.”
“My best weight is super-flyweight, but we’ll see what options come up,” Watson says of her immediate fighting future. “But my main focus right now is my fight in December. I want to put on a good performance, and then we’ll see what pops up next year.”
Watson has plenty of options going forward. Most Valuable Promotions are building up an impressive elite stable of female talent. That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Watson. “MVP are doing a lot with the super-flyweights. They have got Shannon Courtenay as well, but I think she wants the fight with Ebanie Bridges. But I do think there are fights to be had. At least now, there is a platform for females to go on.”
A little closer to home could bring Watson some light. Despite being linked with fights against the likes of Maiseyrose Courtney and Nicola Hopewell in the past, Watson has yet to face either of her British rivals. The 26-year-old isn’t ruling out a future fight with either. A fighter wisely keeping open all available options.
“You never know; something might come up there as well,” Watson says. “But that’s not my job. The main thing for me is to push my body through what it needs to do, and see what comes up. But I am quite positive that something will come up next year. What that will be, I am not quite sure. Whatever happens next year, happens. That’s boxing for you. Everything can change so quickly.”
