ELLIE SCOTNEY dedicated her unified world title victory to her late friend Georgia O’Connor – who passed away aged just 25.
Scotney and O’Connor became best friends after growing up together on the amateur boxing circuit.
O’Connor was diagnosed with cancer in January and tragically passed away just five months later.
Scotney was left devastated but vowed to fight on in her best friend’s honour.
And the Queen of Catford stayed true to her word by beating Yamileth Mercado to add the WBC super-bantamweight title to her collection.
Now the unified WBC, IBF and WBO champion, Scotney, 27, said: “First and foremost, all glory to God.
“It’s been real testing the past few months as everyone knows, I lost my dear friend Georgia.
“Tonight was for her. Her dad’s over here. I’d like everyone to give her a round of applause, she was 25 years old.
“She was a fighter and she lost her battle with cancer.
“But tonight I made sure her name was remembered in Madison Square Garden and that sums up my night.”
On the undercard in New York, Chantelle Cameron also defeated Jessica Camara via unanimous decision.
She retained retained the WBC super-lightweight title and remains in line to fight the winner between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.