Ellie Scotney is on the verge of greatness, says boxing legend Barry McGuigan.
Scotney takes on Mexico’s Mayelli Flores for all four major world super bantamweight titles at London’s Olympia on Sunday 5 April, live on Sky Sports.
With victory, Catford’s Scotney would become Britain’s youngest undisputed world champion in the four-belt era.
Already the unified WBC, WBO and IBF title list, Scotney needs Flores’ WBA belt to complete his collection.
Barry McGuigan knows first hand how capable Scotney is – she is trained by his son Shane.
“People forget what Ellie Scotney has achieved. She’s won three titles,” McGuigan said Sky Sports news. “She has really achieved a great deal and is only in the embryonic stages of her professional career.
“She’s a fighter, she’s got incredible toughness. She can take a shot. She can dish it out. She’s also got non-stop aggression and a beautiful boxing brain.
“People overlook how good she is and what she’s achieved and that shouldn’t be the case. She’s really something special and I have a lot of respect for her.”
McGuigan expects the WBA champion to push her. “Flores is strong and tough. Coming forward,” he said. “Go down, fight.
“It won’t be an easy match.” But he added: “I think she will beat Flores.”
Scotney has won titles in her pro career and won the European Championship before rising to world level. She has always beaten reigning champions, has never picked up a vacant belt and done it all in just 11 fights.
However, she has won on points every single time, a stoppage or knockout has so far proved elusive.
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Caroline Dubois and Terri Harper shared an intense face-off and exchanged a few more words after launching the press conference for their April 5 fight.
“She throws careful combinations,” McGuigan said. “It’s very difficult to articulate what impact is. It’s about sitting down on your shots and hitting straight through the target.
“She’s got great guts, it’s just the way she fights. She doesn’t try to knock people out, she just blows them up with combinations and she does. Look what she’s done so far. She’s a brilliant talent.
“What she has done is truly phenomenal.”
April 5 will be a busy night for the McGuigan stable with Caroline Dubois, the WBC lightweight champion, also in action in the co-main event of her own world title association.
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Caroline Dubois and Terri Harper get into a heated verbal exchange at the end of Gloves Are Off ahead of their match on Sunday 5 April live on Sky Sports.
Dubois is boxing the far more experienced Terri Harper, who holds the WBO lightweight title after previous championship reigns at both super featherweight and super welterweight.
“No matter what they say to each other in those interviews, I know Caroline will have the utmost respect for Terri Harper because Terri Harper has earned her coins, she’s earned her reputation,” McGuigan said.
“She’s a very good fighter. She’s a good all rounder. She can box, she can fight, she’s a lovely kid and I have a lot of respect for her.
“It’s going to be a hard night’s work and she knows it and she’s getting ready and she’s in good shape. I think Caroline will win, she’s got the power. But this is not going to be an easy fight. This is a tough kid. Terri Harper is going to be a hard night’s work.”
Watch Dubois-Harper and Scotney-Flores live on Sky Sports Sunday, April 5.