FRAN HENNESSY punched her ticket to a world title shot with a bruising victory over Ellie Bouttell.
The Sevenoaks slugger moved to a perfect 8-0 with a hard-fought majority decision victory at the Copperbox Arena on Saturday night.
Victory in the Stratford showdown saw the 21-year-old claim the WBC Silver women’s bantamweight title and become the mandatory challenger for champion Cherneka Johnson.
Hennessy boxed beautifully from the opening bell, operating on the back foot early as she looked to get reads on her China-based opponent.
A cut opened up on Bouttell midway in the second after an accidental clash of heads, but she was undeterred as she looked to make the fight a war.
Hennessy went back to her jab in the third but started to let it slip in the fourth, in which she landed a big left hook that drew a massive reaction from the crowd.
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She started to bite down on her gumshield in the fifth, in which Bouttell landed multiple chopping blows to the head and the body in the clinch.
Bouttell grew into the contest in the sixth, seventh and eighth, making the bout a war in the pocket despite Hennessy’s best efforts to stay at a distance.
Round eight and nine proved to be Bouttell’s best, with the 29-year-old landing yet more vicious shots to the body inside the pocket.
Bouttell fought like a woman possessed in the final stanza in a bid to land the knockdown she desperately needed to steal the fight from Hennessy’s clutches.
But her second-half comeback wasn’t enough to convince all three judges that she did enough to have her hand raised, with the officials turning in 95–95, 97–93, 96–94 scorecards.
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