Nicola Hopewell: "I can make flyweight, so any championship fights I have need to be at flyweight."
The road back begins in Bradford on Saturday night for Nicola Hopewell. The main event of her last fight in October is replaced by a comeback fight lower down the card, but in many ways, it will serve its purpose.
The points defeat to Emma Dolan in Sheffield last October with the Commonwealth super-flyweight title on the line was a sobering experience for Hopewell as she suffered her first professional defeat. The Worksop fighter was far from disgraced in a fight that the trade paper Boxing News had in their top three domestic female fights of 2023. There were mistakes made. Hopewell will know that better than anyone. There was the realisation that her body was more suited to fight in a division a few pounds further down. It will be that acceptance that will serve her well going forward. In truth, it should have come sooner.
The loss of her unbeaten record to the talented Dolan has not deterred Hopewell or dampened her ambitions in the sport. If anything, the defeat to Dolan could be the making of her. Training has gone well for Hopewell as the first bell nears for her return on Saturday night. Sparring has been beyond good, and Hopewell can already see the improvements.
"I've been lighter on my feet. My legs don't feel as heavy because I have cut down on my runs," Hopewell told me over Zoom just a few days before her fight in Bradford. "I've been moving my head better. I've not been coming out and getting caught as much because I have been getting in and pivoting out instead of just coming straight back out. I've been going in, doing my work, and getting out, but coming out at the side. It's little things like that I have been working on, and it's made all the difference."
Hopewell will fight Kata Pap (1-2) of Hungary in her first fight back after the Dolan reversal last time out. "I want to get the win and get some rounds in," Hopewell simply says of her fight with Pap. A fight that is the first tentative step back to championship level, albeit at her new weight.
Pap is a late replacement, so Hopewell will have her return at super-flyweight, but her future is at flyweight. Any resistance to shedding a few more precious pounds has now gone, the Worksop fighter told me.
"After the last fight, I have looked at things and realised that I am one of the smaller girls in the super-flyweight division. I can make flyweight, so any championship fights I have need to be at flyweight."
If Hopewell is successful on her return against Pap, the plan is a simple one. Fight. A little luxury that a lot of fighters simply don't have. Hopewell is one of those fighters in 2023 who didn't see the minutes in the ring that she would have liked. Just two fights in a year that promised so much more.
"There is a show at the end of March that I want to get on," Hopewell says. "I just want to stay active. I don't want massive gaps between fights like I had last year. I fought in February, but I didn't get out again until October. I was waiting for the Commonwealth title fight but that kept falling through. I was on another show, but my opponent pulled out two days before the show because of a medical issue. So, I just want to stay active in 2024 and see where we get to by the end of the year and see what opportunities come up. There have been fights offered to me, but I haven't taken them because I don't want to be a journeywoman. It wasn't a fight that would have benefited me at all. I wouldn't have got a proper training camp, I got only 3/4 weeks' notice. For me, I want to have a proper fight with a full camp, so I have a chance of winning, and not just be shoved in there with a prospect expecting to lose.
The new weight division that Hopewell will now reside in has two ready-made domestic opponents waiting for her in the European flyweight champion Chloe Watson and the unbeaten Matchroom prospect Maisey-Rose Courtney, whom Hopewell beat in the unpaid ranks. A fight with either holds no fears for Hopewell.
"If I have a proper training camp, I would definitely fight Maisey or Chloe. Give me a few fights, and I would fight either of them with a full camp. I didn't want to come off a loss to Emma and take a fight against either of those girls with just a few week's notice. But give me a few more fights to get that ring IQ up, and I would take either of those fights. I just need a few more fights to get a little bit more experience."
You don't have to have a boxing psychic to realise a fight with Maisey-Rose Courtney has been offered in recent times. There is a story with the amateur reversal which Courtney strongly disputes and would like to avenge. The fight would be an easy sell. But Hopewell is being sensible, ignoring the temptation to fight under the Matchroom lights for the sake of her boxing longevity. Hopewell believes that the fight will happen, but wants to have it when she is fully prepared. She wants to beat Courtney and not just fight her.
But before the thoughts of what lies ahead, Hopewell knows she needs to beat Kata Pap on Saturday night. She will know another defeat could spell career oblivion, Hopewell can ill afford any thoughts of not being in the moment. But Hopewell seems in a good place, and we will likely see a new and improved fighter in Bradford against the Hungarian import. The defeat to Dolan was undoubtedly a setback, but it could be the start of a new beginning for Nicola Hopewell.
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