Rhiannon Dixon: On Reflection
The pre-fight narrative and pre-fight odds indicated that Rhiannon Dixon would lose to Terri Harper on Saturday in Sheffield. But the script wasn't followed, and both fighters now have their immediate career trajectories changed as a result.
In simple terms, Harper just knew a little too much for a fighter still developing somewhat. Especially, at the highest point of her craft. There was no disgrace in losing to a fighter who is now a three-weight world champion. Harper got her game plan just right. She picked her moments. Used her feet well throughout the fight to stifle enough of Dixon's offence to see her home. Experience was brought up a lot in fight week. We now know why.
But strip away many things, the fact Dixon was even in the ring with Harper, let alone defending a world title of her own, should be cause for much celebration. Even in defeat, there are still positives to take.
The Rhiannon Dixon story, even if it ends right now, is a quite remarkable success story. From fighting in nightclubs and other such uninspiring establishments with sticky floors as a raw and eager white-collar fighter not so long again to winning a world title after just ten professional fights is some story in itself. But Dixon does not see the defeat to Harper as the end. In truth, it could be a glorious new beginning. In the coming years, she might even view it as the best thing that has ever happened to her. A bittersweet blessing in disguise.
The points defeat to Harper, which cost Dixon her WBO world lightweight bauble, showed that the Warrington fighter isn't quite ready for the big unification fights, which were mooted prior to suffering her first career reversal at the Canon Medical Arena. All she needs is a little more time.
Dixon should take solace and inspiration from her former stablemate Natasha Jonas. A fighter who has overcome so much adversity and frustration in her boxing life and resurrected her career brilliantly after so much disappointment along the way. At 29, Dixon is good enough and good enough to come again.
It's difficult to envisage exactly where Rhiannon Dixon goes from here. It could be a gentle rebuild, or her inner circle might well push for an immediate rematch with Harper. I wouldn't be averse to seeing them running it back again, either straightaway or in the fight after. A few adjustments, and you can easily see a completely different fight. After her fight with the now three-weight world champion, Dixon will undoubtedly return a wiser and better fighter. The raw talent just needs a little more refining.
Fighters are written off far too easily in the modern era. One defeat, and they are seemingly finished in the eyes of many. But far too often, context goes missing with that doomsday narrative. Those pre-fight odds always looked way off the mark. Harper brought a rich resume, and maybe too many looked at the Sandy Ryan fight earlier this year and didn't quite look at the complete picture.
Dixon will hurt in the coming days and weeks. But that is no bad thing. She and her team will know what went wrong. Trust me, the inquest has already begun. Hopefully, lessons will be learned. But Rhiannon Dixon still has a golden future. The potential is there. We have seen that already. But sometimes you have to fall a little before you reach the summit.
Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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