Terri Harper beats Ivana Habazin to retain WBA super-welterweight title

The three judges – including Doncaster’s Howard Foster – at Manchester Arena scored the bout 98-92, 97-93 (x2) all in favour of Denaby Main’s two-weight world champion, who earned her fourteenth career win in the first defence of her latest belt against Habazin.

Harper had been due to defend her strap against former undisputed welterweight queen Cecilia Braekhus last Saturday but her challenger pulled out on the morning of the bout due to illness.

Former two-weight world champion Habazin stepped in at just seven days’ notice and gave a good account of herself as she made Harper work for victory.

The challenger had previously fought Braekhus and Claressa Shields at world level and had been due to take on Jessica McCaskill, who inflicted the only defeats of Braekhus’ professional career, before taking the Harper fight.

Victory for Harper is likely to reignite talk of a rematch turned unification bout with fellow Brit Natasha Jonas.