Terri Harper’s quest for super featherweight unification officially kicks off on May 15th, when she’ll put her WBC title on the line against WBA champ Hyun Mi Choi atop a fairly stacked DAZN card in Manchester.
Harper (11-0-1, 6 KO) dominantly dethroned Eva Wahlstrom for the belt in February 2020, battled pending Katie Taylor foe Natasha Jonas to a hugely entertaining draw in her first defense, and thoroughly crushed mandatory challenger Katharina Thanderz this past November.
“It’s exciting that our dream of becoming Undisputed Super-Featherweight World Champion is taking a step closer to reality with my first unification fight,” said Harper. “I’m looking forward to the step-up and fighting an undefeated champion.
“Choi is the longest-reigning female World Champion and it will be an honour to share the ring with her. I’m more than ready. I’ve been training for this fight since the new year, even with my broken hand. I don’t just want to win; I want to win in style and make a statement.”
South Korean’s Choi (18-0-1, 4 KO) has successfully defended her title five times since beating Unathi Myekeni for it in 2016. The run most recently saw her make a successful Matchroom debut against the game Calista Silgado on the Golovkin-Szeremeta undercard.
“I have waited a very long time for the opportunity to fight for the WBC belt,” said Choi. ”I am so excited and looking forward to it. My goal has been to unify my weight division for many years and now the time has finally come.
“I know this fight in England will not be easy. Fighting in another country is extremely difficult but I am prepared for this adventure and challenge. I truly hope the best fighter will win. I have prepared for this opportunity my whole boxing career.”
Ideally, Matchroom and Top Rank will be able to put together another unification between Mikaela Mayer and Maiva Hamadouche to set up a battle for undisputed status later this year.
Other bouts of note include Joshua Buatsi (13-0, 11 KO) facing TBA in the former’s first fight under new trainer Virgil Hunter and former British/Commonwealth super middleweight champ Lerrone Richards (14-0, 3 KO) fighting former WBA “world” titlist Giovanni De Carolis (28-9-1, 13 KO) for the European title. In addition, Tommy McCarthy (17-2, 8 KO) defends his European cruiserweight belt against Romania’s Alexandru Jur (19-4, 7 KO), Gamal Yafai (18-1, 10 KO) puts his European super bantamweight belt on the line against onetime Conlan victim Jason Cunningham (28-6, 6 KO), and Dalton Smith (7-0, 6 KO) meets Lee Appleyard (16-5-1, 5 KO) in a bid for the English super lightweight belt.