Terri Harper says she will “break down” Natasha Jonas when she defends her WBC and IBO super featherweight world titles against the Liverpudlian at Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex, on Friday August 7th, live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US. Harper (10-0, 5 KOs) was crowned WBC champion after battering Eva Wahlstrom over ten rounds in February. Her first WBC defense comes against Great Britain’s first ever female boxer to compete at an Olympic Games. Despite Jonas’ wealth of experience in the amateur ranks, Harper remains confident that she will emerge victorious. “For me, professional and amateur boxing are two completely different styles,” said Harper. “We’re not going to do anything daft. We’re not just going to be looking for a stoppage. I’m going to use my engine that for some reason Natasha thinks could be a bad thing. I’m going to work Natasha all night and break her down."
Harper continued, “'Tasha' gets caught quite a lot and I’m a big strong super featherweight. When I get in the ring I’m easily a good 10 or 12 pounds heavier than what I was at the weigh-in the day before. I’ve got a bit of meat behind my punches and I strongly believe I could get a stoppage over Tasha. She keeps saying there’s nothing I do better than her but obviously I beat Viviane Obenauf [who bet Jonas]. I’m not going to go off that fight, but I think I’ve got one up on Natasha. Every fight I’m having I’m always thinking about that next step and reaching the next level. I enjoy the risks but I feel I have great momentum and I can’t see anything stopping me at the minute.”
For her part, Jonas said, “If I land clean, she’ll go. I believe I’ve turned the clock back to how I was pre-Olympics. I’m mentally, physically and emotionally the best I’ve ever been, and I’ll prove that on Friday. The break away from boxing was good. I had time with my little girl which was good, and now I’ve done everything I can do in this camp. I’ve always had power and have a good knockout percentage on my record. Everything I believe Terri can do, we’ve covered. If I didn’t give it my all then I wouldn’t be here, and I’m ready to take this opportunity.”
Harper vs. Jonas tops Week 2 of Matchroom Camp, Bournemouth’s Chris Billam-Smith (10-1, 9 KOs) defends his Commonwealth cruiserweight title against Wales' Nathan Thorley (14-0, 6 KOs)... Liverpool junior middleweight Anthony Fowler (12-1, 9 KOs) gets his second outing of the year against Adam Harper (9-1)... Oldham's Aqib Fiaz (5-0) steps up against Birmingham’s Kane Baker (13-6)... and Leeds featherweight Hopey Price (2-0) takes on Jonny Phillips (5-4, 2 KOs).
