Terri Harper

Terri Harper (born 2 November 1996) is an English professional boxer who has held the IBO female super-featherweight title since 2019 and the WBC female super-featherweight title since February 2020. She is the second British female boxer in history to hold a major world title. As of November 2020, she is ranked as the world's best active female super-featherweight by The Ring[3] and third by BoxRec.[4]

Terri Harper
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Belter[1]
Weight(s)	Super-featherweight Lightweight
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Reach	65 in (165 cm)
Nationality	English
Born	2 November 1996 Denaby Main, Yorkshire, England
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record[2]
Total fights	12
Wins	11
Wins by KO	6
Losses	0
Draws	1

Early life

Harper grew up in Yorkshire with her two brothers and sister. She got into boxing at the age of 12 after watching Jack Osbourne box on the TV show Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie. After winning a silver medal as a junior at the 2012 European Championships, Harper stepped away from the sport to concentrate on her education.[5]

Amateur career

As an amateur Harper only competed 17 times, which saw her win three national titles and a silver medal at the European Youth and Junior Championships in Poland.[6][7][8]

Professional career

Early years

Harper made her professional debut on 25 November 2017, at the Doncaster Dome in Doncaster, scoring a four-round points decision (PTS) victory over Monika Antonik.[9]

After four more fights in 2018—PTS wins over Borislava Goranova in February and Bojana Libiszewska in April[10][11] and stoppage wins over Bec Connolly in October and Feriche Mashauri in December[12][13]—she faced undefeated Commonwealth super-lightweight champion Nina Bradley on 8 March 2019, at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, with the vacant WBC International female lightweight title on the line.[14] In a fight which saw Bradley down twice in the first two rounds,[15] Harper won via technical knockout (TKO) in the tenth and final round.[16] At the time of the stoppage all three judges had Harper winning on the scorecards with 90–79, 89–80, and 89–80.[17]

Harper vs. Bell, Obenauf

Following a stoppage win against Claudia Lopez in May,[18] Harper fought former world title challenger Nozipho Bell on 19 July for the vacant IBO female super-featherweight title at the Magna Centre in Rotherham,[19] capturing her first world title with an eighth-round TKO.[20] Harper dropped her South African opponent twice in the eighth round before referee Howard Foster waved off the fight.[21][22]

On 24 September 2019, it was announced that Harper had signed a contract with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing, with her first fight under the Matchroom banner scheduled to take place on 2 November in defence of her IBO title against former two-time world title challenger Viviane Obenauf at the Manchester Arena. The fight was televised live on Sky Sports as part of the undercard of Katie Taylor's successful WBO world title challenge against Christina Linardatou.[23][24] Harper successfully retained her IBO title via unanimous decision (UD) over ten rounds, with the judges' scorecards reading 99–91, 99–92, and 97–93.[25] In the post-fight ringside interview, Eddie Hearn announced that terms had been agreed for Harper to challenge WBC female super-featherweight champion Eva Wahlström in early 2020.[26][27]

Harper vs. Wahlström

On 20 December it was announced that Harper would challenge Wahlström on 8 February 2020, at the FlyDSA Arena (formerly Sheffield Arena), with Harper's IBO and Wahlström's WBC female super-featherweight titles on the line.[28] The fight was aired live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US as part of the undercard for Kell Brook vs. Mark DeLuca.[29] Harper dropped Wahlström in round seven en-route to a UD victory, adding the WBC to her IBO title to become the second British female boxer in history to capture a major world title. Two judges scored the bout 99–90 and the third judge scored it 98–91.[30]

Harper vs. Jonas

She defended her WBC and IBO titles against former Olympian Natasha Jonas on 7 August 2020, at the Matchroom Sport headquarters in Brentwood, Essex. After a closely contested fight which saw Jonas suffer a cut above her right eye in the early rounds before staggering Harper in the eighth, the result went to the judges' scorecards; one judge scored the bout 96–94 in favour of Harper, the second judge scored it 96–95 to Jonas while the third judge scored it even at 95–95, resulting in a split draw to see Harper retain her titles.[31] The bout was the first time two British women contested for a world title.[32]

Harper vs. Thanderz

In the second defence of her WBC title and fourth of her IBO, Harper faced former European female super-featherweight champion Katharina Thanderz on 14 November 2020. The bout served as part of the undercard for Katie Taylor's world title defence against Miriam Gutiérrez at The SSE Arena in London. For the first five rounds, Harper fought at range behind left jab and straight right combinations while landing left hooks as Thanderz came into range. Thanderz became more aggressive in the sixth, pressuring Harper onto the ropes while Harper continued to land the better punches. After much of the same in the seventh round, Harper fought while moving backwards in the eighth, landing jabs and straight punches as Thanderz attempted to close the distance. Thanderz suffered an injury to her nose after an accidental clash of heads in the ninth before being hurt with a punch to the body which forced her to bend over in pain. Harper followed up with a sustained assault, landing combinations to the head and body to force referee Victor Loughlin to call a halt to the contest, awarding Harper a TKO victory.[33][34]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary

12 fights	11 wins	0 losses
By knockout	6	0
By decision	5	0
Draws	1

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
12	Win	11–0–1	Katharina Thanderz	TKO	9 (10), 1:12	14 Nov 2020	The SSE Arena, London, England	Retained WBC and IBO female super-featherweight titles
11	Draw	10–0–1	Natasha Jonas	SD	10	7 Aug 2020	Matchroom Fight Camp, Brentwood, England	Retained WBC and IBO female super-featherweight titles
10	Win	10–0	Eva Wahlström	UD	10	8 Feb 2020	FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield, England	Retained IBO female super-featherweight title; Won WBC female super-featherweight title
9	Win	9–0	Viviane Obenauf	UD	10	2 Nov 2019	Manchester Arena, Manchester, England	Retained IBO female super-featherweight title
8	Win	8–0	Nozipho Bell	TKO	8 (10), 1:25	19 Jul 2019	Magna Centre, Rotherham, England	Won vacant IBO female super-featherweight title
7	Win	7–0	Claudia Andrea Lopez	TKO	6 (10), 1:58	10 May 2019	Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England
6	Win	6–0	Nina Bradley	TKO	10 (10), 0:13	8 Mar 2019	Barnsley Metrodome, Barnsley, England	Won vacant WBC International female lightweight title
5	Win	5–0	Feriche Mashauri	TKO	2 (6), 1:25	8 Dec 2018	Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England
4	Win	4–0	Bec Connolly	KO	3 (6), 1:40	5 Oct 2018	Barnsley Metrodome, Barnsley, England
3	Win	3–0	Bojana Libiszewska	PTS	4	13 Apr 2018	Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England
2	Win	2–0	Borislava Gorinova	PTS	4	10 Feb 2018	Dearne Valley Leisure Centre, Denaby Main, England
1	Win	1–0	Monika Antonik	PTS	4	25 Nov 2017	Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England

References

1. "Terri "Belter" Harper (@TerriHarper96) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
2. "Boxing record for Terri Harper". BoxRec.
3. "The Ring Women's Ratings". The Ring. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
4. "BoxRec: Ratings". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
5. "'There was always something missing': Terri Harper interview". Boxing Monthly. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
6. "4.European Women's Youth & Junior Championships - Władysławowo, Poland - November 4-9 2012". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
7. "Terri Harper: "You'll See Another Level To My Game!"". Boxing Social. 2019-10-29. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
8. "Terri Harper - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
9. "Terri Harper vs. Monika Antonik". boxrec.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
10. "Terri Harper vs. Borislava Goranova". boxrec.com. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
11. "Terri Harper vs. Bojana Libiszewska". boxrec.com. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
12. "Terri Harper vs. Bec Connolly". boxrec.com. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
13. "Terri Harper vs. Feriche Mashauri". boxrec.com. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
14. Thompson, Connor (7 March 2019). "Bradley banking on fighting spirit". Newark Advertiser. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
15. "Bradley's title hopes ended in final round". www.bostonstandard.co.uk. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
16. Kemp, Jay (12 March 2019). "Terri Harper Claims WBC International Lightweight Championship by Stopping Nina Bradley". Women Of Boxing. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
17. "Terri Harper vs. Nina Bradley". boxrec.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
18. Gilbert, Peter (10 May 2019). "JD NTXGEN: Terri Harper stops Claudia Lopez to retain WBC belt". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
19. "Ryan Rhodes talks Terri Harper vs Nozipho Bell, sharing the ring with Canelo, and his future in boxing | British Boxing News". www.britishboxingnews.co.uk. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
20. "Terri Harper vs. Nozipho Bell". boxrec.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
21. Beddows, David (20 July 2019). "Harper's world title triumph caps knockout night of boxing at Magna". www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
22. Westerdale, Bob (21 July 2019). "Boxing: Denaby Main's Terri Harper seals historic world title triumph". www.thestar.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
23. Christ, Scott (24 September 2019). "Terri Harper signs with Matchroom, fights on Nov. 2". www.badlefthook.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
24. "Terri Harper signs with Matchroom Boxing and makes IBO World title defence against Vivian Obenauf | British Boxing News". www.britishboxingnews.co.uk. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
25. "Terri Harper vs. Viviane Obenauf". boxrec.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
26. Christ, Scott (2 November 2019). "Terri Harper set for world title bid after win over Viviane Obenauf". www.badlefthook.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
27. Persson, Per Ake (5 November 2019). "Eva Wahlstrom vs. Terri Harper in Play For February 2020". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
28. "Kell Brook vs Mark DeLuca in Sheffield on February 8, live on Sky Sports". Sky Sports. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
29. Gilbert, Peter (8 February 2020). "Brook vs DeLuca: Terri Harper targets statement win over WBC champion Eva Wahlstrom". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
30. "Terri Harper beats Eva Wahlstrom to win WBC super-featherweight title". BBC Sport. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
31. "Harper vs Jonas: Terri Harper retains WBC title after split decision draw with Natasha Jonas". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
32. Dielhenn, James (6 August 2020). "Harper vs Jonas: Terri Harper insists she is ignoring 'mind games' from Natasha Jonas and Joe Gallagher". Sky Sports. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
33. Damerell, Richard (15 November 2020). "Taylor vs Gutierrez: Terri Harper stops Katharina Thanderz in ninth round to retain WBC super-featherweight belt". Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
34. Lewis, Ron (14 November 2020). "Terri Harper Beats Up, Stops Katharina Thanderz in Ninth". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 28 November 2020.

External links

Boxing record for Terri Harper from BoxRec