Ring Magazine, IBF and WBO super bantamweight champion, Ellie Scotney, 10-0, made a successful first defence of her unified titles and added the IBO belt to her expanding collection with a wide unanimous decision over New Zealand’s Mea Motu, 20-1 (8 KOs) at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.

The fight was screened by worldwide by DAZN.

The 26 year-old from London won the IBF belt by outpointing Australia’s Cherneka Johnson in June 2023 and added the WBO and Ring titles by boxing her way to an impressive unanimous decision over France’s Segolene Lefebvre last May.

The first round was a battle of lead hands, Scotney scoring with a jab and short left hook but she went back to her corner with blood pouring from a cut to the side of her left eye after an accidental clash of heads.

Motu entered the fight unbeaten in 20 professional outings but her level of opposition ensured that she remained something of an unknown quantity.

She looked big and solid and held the centre of the ring but presented a stationary target for Scotney who began to try and score with three punch combinations. Motu, however, smartly tried to answer back every time the Londoner held her feet.

Motu made a more aggressive start to round four, pushing Scotney back into the ropes but a left hook, right hand combination from Scotney were the cleanest shots of the round. It was a sign of things to come.

Motu’s slowed slightly in the fifth and Scotney’s skill began to come into play more and more. She began to find a home for her lead right hand and left hook and forced the tough Kiwi to take a backward step for the first time.

Before the fight, Scotney made it known that she was expecting the toughest test of her career and Motu continued to bravely press forward. Although she scored with the odd arcing right hand or wide left hook, Scotney had found the timing and range needed to be effective and began to counter her with sharper, tighter punches.

By the eighth, Scotney’s right hand was the most telling factor in the fight but although it bounced off Motu’s chin time and time again, the 35 year-old continued to stay forward and made sure to let her hands going every time Scotney paused to launch and attack. Scotney did begin to land her right uppercut when Motu held her feet inside.

Scotney remained in command during the tenth and the three ringside judges all scored the bout 99-91 in her favour.

Scotney is intent on being involved in the biggest fights possible and whilst she would love to become undisputed champion of the 122lb division, in her post fight interview she floated the idea of moving up to featherweight for a high profile fight with Australia’s WBC featherweight champion, Skye Nicolson.

For eleven rounds, Derby’s Harry Scarff, 13-4 (3 KOs), looked to be well on course for a successful defence of his British and Commonwealth welterweight titles.

For round after round, Scarff easily outboxed Conah Walker, 15-3-1 5( KOs), leading the man from Wolverhampton a merry dance for long spells.

Midway through the penultimate round, that changed. From nowhere, Walker pulled a right hand out of the bag and followed up to drop Scarff heavily. He got up on wooden legs but Walker was never going to let his opportunity slip. He kept punching until referee, Michael Alexander stepped in to stop the action.

Scarff hadn’t boxed since May when he lost a decision to Karen Chukhadzhian in a final eliminator for Jaron Ennis’ IBF title but produced arguably a career best performance to outclass the in form Walker.

Scarff is known as ‘Horrible Harry’ and usually provides a difficult night’s work for anybody at domestic level. The 31 year-old is adept at working out a way to be effective and will tweak and adapt his gameplay on the fly but found his mark in the opening seconds and never looked like relinquishing control.

Whereas Scarff has been inactive in recent months, Walker has been busy and his all action style has made him a popular figure on the British scene.

In June, he and Lewis Crocker produced one of the fights of 2024 and although he lost a unanimous decision, his stock rose. In November, he righted the ship with a straightforward decision over former British lightweight champion, Lewis Ritson.

Walker was his usual bundle of aggressive energy but the tall, rangy Scarff boxed to his own pace throughout a one sided opening round, keeping the man from Wolverhampton at bay with a stiff southpaw jab and an accurate left hand.

Walker came out with renewed aggression in the second but Scarff stemmed the tide. Smartly turning Walker and getting himself back to a comfortable range where he landed with a wide variety of shots with both hands.

After three rounds it was already obvious that Walker had a decision to make. Either switch to Plan B in an attempt to shake Scarff out of his rhythm or continue to push forward in the hope that Scarff tired.

Far from being horrible, Scarff was producing an excellent display of boxing. Dominating from range and getting the better of things when Walker did manage to get inside, Scarff even began to stop Walker in his tracks with the occasional left hand.

By round six, it became apparent that Walker had no Plan B. His right eye began swelling and Scarff started bounce his head around with snappy combinations. ‘The Wolf’ did put in a sustained effort in round seven - at one point bundling Scarff to the canvass - but finished the round corned and eating a heavy left hand to the side of the head.

Walker’s desperation to make an impression meant that the two spent more and more time at close quarters. That type of fight is Scarff’s bread and butter and he easily negated Walker’s best efforts. At the end of the eighth, the fighter’s feet got tangled and he tumbled into the ropes but as Walker looked to capitalise on a stroke of fortune, Scarff smartly turned him and fired in a left hand to re-establish control.

Scarff continued to box, move and clinch his way to the finishing line but Walker kept pressing forwards and refused to give up hope. Eventually his moment arrived.

He found the right hand that would change not only the course of the fight but of his entire career.

At the time of the stoppage, Scarff was ahead one all three judges scorecards. Two of the judges had him leading 99-91 while the third had him ahead 100-90.

Traie Duberry, 5-0 (2 KOs), got the action at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena underway with a dramatic six round decision over Argentina’s Camilo Castagno, 4-9 (1 KO).

The event was screened live worldwide by DAZN.

The 29 year-old from Aston had his way with the southpaw visitor for the vast majority of the opening five rounds but despite landing right hand after right hand, bloodying the gutsy Castagno’s nose and dropping him in the second, he just couldn’t sustain an attack long enough to force the referee to step in and stop the action.

He almost paid a massive price. With the very last punch of the fight, Castagno launched a left hand from the back row of the arena which poleaxed Duberry.

Duberry beat the count but was on unsteady legs as the bell sounded. The Castagno’s burst was too little, too late and Duberry was awarded a 59-53 decision.

Hamza Uddin caught the eye in 2024, the 23 year old’s flair and speed causing some to tout him as one of Britain’s brightest prospects.

Uddin was matched aggressively and encountered some resistance from former Midlands Area flyweight champion, Benn Norman, last time out but controlled Argentina’s more limited Misael Ezequiel Graffioli, 5-4, for almost every second of their eight round contest.

31 year-old Graffioli was neat and tidy and tried to get a his left hook working but couldn’t match Uddin, 4-0 (1 KO), for hand or foot speed.

Uddin set the distance using a razor sharp jab but although he flashed the occasional uppercut and lead right hand and tried to step around the Argentinean to create unusual angles, he only truly tried to accelerate through the gears when he felt ultra comfortable.

Graffioli know enough to stay safe but Uddin won every round and was awarded a straightforward 80-72 decision.

Ibraheem Sulaimaan, 6-0 (4 KOs), boxed his way to an uneventful eight round decision victory over Reuquen Cona Facunda Arce, 18-17-2 (7 KOs) at super featherweight.

The 24 year-old is a rangy, confident character with good head movement and reflexes but - boxing over eight rounds for the first time - paced himself. ’Spider’ edged slowly out of range, probing with his jab and firing in his straight left hand

Arce gave the once highly ranked Archie Sharp a torrid time last May but found Suliamaan difficult to pin down.

After seeing blood drip from the Argentinean’s nose, Sulaimaan cut loose as the third round came to an end but quickly got back to his boxing as Arce’s regathered himself.

The 24 year-old from Birmingham began to spend more time on the front foot as the fight wore on but wary of the quick counters coming back his way, Are picked his moments of attack carefully.

One round began to look very much like another as Sulaimaan eased his way to the finish line. He deserved the 80-72 decision he was awarded.