Shane McGuigan has challenged Yamileth Mercado to ‘stand and fight’ with Ring Magazine champion Ellie Scotney in their junior featherweight unification on July 11.

Undefeated Scotney puts her Ring, IBF and WBO belts on the line against Ring’s No. 1-rated 122lber Mercado at Madison Square Garden next month.

It is just one of the significant fights that will make up part of an outstanding all women’s card staged by Most Valuable Promotions, with Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano’s trilogy bout topping the bill.

As part of his preparation, McGuigan has studied Mexican Mercado (23-4, 5 KOs) and is concerned she may adopt a safety-first approach against Scotney (10-0) in an attempt to nick a victory on points.

“I think she has the tendency to sit back a little bit,” McGuigan told The Ring. “We just don’t want her to run.

“Now I think it is up to us to say to her, come on, stand and fight, let’s put on an exciting show that lives up to the size of this whole event.

“Ellie will beat her if she runs away anyway. She would just beat her in a less enjoyable way for everyone. Come on, throw it down, put up a good fight and that’s exactly what we want. I hope her Mexican spirit will bring out a good fight.

“At the end of the day, genuinely, Ellie beats her going forward, if she meets her in the middle, she can beat her on the back foot because she’s just better than her. But we want an exciting fight, we don’t want a stinker on a show like this.”

The show in question is Scotney’s first since signing with MVP after spending the first five years of her career with Matchroom. The promotional company, founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, have signed up a raft of elite women and free agent Scotney fitted the bill.

“I’m really excited about their mission,” McGuigan said. “Obviously they’re giving opportunities to girls and it seems like a lot of girls are going that way.

“Taylor-Serrano 3 is an unbelievable fight in itself and I don’t think those two can share a ring and not produce a great fight. For Ellie to be part of the show is great for her profile. Obviously Madison Square Garden is immense and that’s where she has always wanted to get to.”

It will also be McGuigan’s first time cornering at the fabled Manhattan arena, having worked with Carl Frampton across the water at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn in July 2016. That night, Frampton beat Leo Santa Cruz in the main event.

“I’ve only been in the corner for that fight in Brooklyn,” he added. “In fact that has been my only fight in New York so MSG is a big tick. Hopefully we can headline there one day, too.”

Another woman in McGuigan’s stable who looks capable of headlining in America one day is Ring’s No. 1 lightweight Caroline Dubois, who is emerging as a future pound-for-pound star.

Like Scotney at 122lbs, Dubois (11-0-1, 5 KOs) is on a quest to unify her division and made the second successful defence of her WBC title with victory over Bo Me Re Shin at the Royal Albert Hall in March.

Dubois has been a jewel in the crown for Boxxer but with their broadcast deal with Sky set to expire this month it is not clear what is next for her. McGuigan refused to give away any details regarding her contract or position with Boxxer but revealed that she could box on an MVP show too if the opportunity arose.

“I can’t speak about that at all,” McGuigan said when asked by The Ring about her contract situation.

“But what I can say is there is no worry on our part. At the moment they are under contract. If you are winning and you’ve got relevance then you’re in a strong position.

“Listen, if Caroline Dubois wants to box on an MVP show, she can box on an MVP show. Even if she was with Boxxer, they have worked with other people in the past on different platforms.

“Whatever opportunity suits Caroline Dubois is what will happen. That’s why we’ve got her under management and we’ve done a pretty damn good job so far and we’ll continue to do a good job for her.”