00:00I follow my instructions at all times, keep it clean, keep it professional at all times, and most of all
00:05protect yourself at all times. Good luck to both of you, Shekens.
00:11That was a great reception for Shannon Courtney who shifted some tickets here from Abbots Langley originally, so not too
00:20far to travel.
00:23She is in the red trunks with the black sort of grey waistband and the white top, Sasha Booker in
00:32the red, black and black vest as well.
00:35Here we go, the white and reach advantage as you can see straight away is with Sasha Booker.
00:43Shannon Courtney, as we said, has held the weight above Bantamweight, and she now makes her way down towards Super
00:515'8", well inside the limit yesterday.
00:53She said she'd made it really easy.
00:55And it looked it.
00:56Yeah.
00:56It looked it.
00:57I should just say though, because Sasha Booker, she is really tall for the weight.
01:01She is.
01:02When she first walked into a boxing gym, which was only four years ago when we were still dealing with
01:05restrictions of the COVID pandemic,
01:08she said, I went there purely because I couldn't stand staying at home anymore.
01:12She'd never walked into a boxing gym previously.
01:16One of the big things that held her back though, she was only 40 kilograms, which is just over six
01:21stone.
01:22And had she wanted to turn pro back then, I don't think there was anybody they could match her against
01:27who wasn't a junior.
01:30Just needs to be a little bit careful here, Booker though, in these exchanges.
01:33Her chin's up, she's not got too much protection.
01:36And Shannon Courtney just edging in and she'll be looking perhaps for that overhand right or that looping lead hook
01:42to Canada.
01:43She is there to be hit.
01:45She's standing very tall, Sasha Booker, at the moment, which is where the height is unhelpful, you would say.
01:51She'd been sparring Ebony Bridges in the build up to this.
01:54She went out to Fuerteventura for that.
01:56So that's interesting that there is the common denominator there because obviously Shannon Courtney beat Ebony Bridges to win a
02:03world title back in 2021.
02:05Yeah, I mean Courtney's just not quite there yet with her range.
02:09She's just punching from a little too far, she needs to get a bit close with her feet.
02:13But I actually think Booker will suit her when she does find her range because, like you say, she's tall,
02:17she's upright.
02:17And Shannon Courtney's got decent head movement, she bends the knees and she punches up really well.
02:22Yeah, she's boxed under the MVP banner before, but this is what I think you would call the MVPW debut
02:31for Shannon Courtney on these shores.
02:37As we say, she's looking to become a two-time, two-weight world champion.
02:44That's really nice. You ain't got to load, you ain't got to look for it because you saw it out.
02:48The position of the front foot is key behind the jab, yeah?
02:50So touch, tap, she's giving up the space, she's really slow, so you ain't got to fault it, you just
02:55got to time her.
02:56Touch of the body a little bit more and adjust the feet, yeah?
02:59Yeah, that's a nice left hook, right hand combination and she's got her going backwards, she's coming forward,
03:05she's got the momentum coming forwards, Courtney, which will suit her.
03:08She's staying low, she's keeping the head moving, trying to find a bit of rhythm off the head moving and
03:13punching off that.
03:14Like I say, this thing's not quite there, but I think she'll get closer now as the fight develops.
03:20That is Rod Julian.
03:23So they're talking there in the blue corner.
03:26She's sort of chopped and changed trainers as Shannon, but she's settled now with Rod.
03:33She was inactive between 2022 and 2024.
03:36And then she made a comeback and she lost to Catherine Tacone Ramos.
03:41Good left hand from Courtney.
03:44Booker was just caught standing tall.
03:46Shannon Courtney threw it long and it landed flush.
03:49She did well to take that, did Booker.
03:54I mean Booker's there to be hit, you know, the chin's in the air.
03:57She's very static, no head movement, tall, upright.
04:00So Courtney won't, shouldn't have any difficult finding her.
04:03She's just got to get the distance right with her feet.
04:06I think she's trying to be a little bit awkward by switching stances there, but she's getting herself in a
04:11bit of a tangle.
04:12And there's a good left hand.
04:13It really hurt.
04:14Her face is to us at the moment.
04:16And those eyes, scrambled legs, sacks to the floor.
04:23Pretty unsteady on her feet.
04:25Shannon Courtney's going to jump straight on her here, you would think.
04:31Just sends her to the neutral corner.
04:33Shannon Courtney waves on.
04:35What are you waiting for?
04:36Let me go.
04:37And here she goes.
04:37She's on her now.
04:38Short right hand from Courtney.
04:40She just needs to take her time here and pick that punch because Booker is still hurt.
04:45Yeah, she's got to be careful not to smother her work here now, Courtney, because Booker want to grab hold,
04:50run the clock.
04:51And she's got to keep that distance where she can land her shots.
04:55That's better.
04:56Yeah, just got to bring your feet in, hasn't she, to make that connection.
04:59And as we've kept saying, she's there to be hit.
05:03She's got to edge in, time it, get that bit of accuracy.
05:06And I feel like it could be early work for Shannon Courtney here.
05:11Yeah, she's opened up her well under the left eye of Booker.
05:14She's finding a home for that right hand is Shannon Courtney.
05:17And Matt, you said she wasn't quite bringing her feet into range, but I think now she's got the radar
05:22switched on and the range finder.
05:23Yeah, she's stepping in with the shots.
05:26You know, she's punching through the target.
05:27There was power in that shot.
05:28And, you know, I think she really hurt Booker there and probably drained a lot of confidence out of her.
05:33She probably did well to get back up and see that round out.
05:40So this was the left hand from earlier in the round.
05:43Courtney.
05:45That's right on top of the forehead.
05:56Yeah, I think that was the shot, was it?
05:58And then she kind of sags down here.
05:59I think she did really well to recover because sort of looking at her facial expression, it wasn't great.
06:05She's taking a lot of deep breaths, just trying to steady yourself.
06:07But there's going to be plenty more of these haymakers, if you like, to come.
06:11It's just a matter of getting the range right.
06:13What an angle.
06:15Well, that was bang on the chin and she was clear.
06:17I think she did the right thing by taking the count.
06:20Just to paint the picture though, we're on the opposite side to where Booker's looking now.
06:27And we had the perfect view.
06:29She was completely scrambled.
06:31So you have to give her a hell of a lot of credit getting back to her feet and seeing
06:34out the round.
06:35I wonder if they've just sit in that red corner.
06:38Just try and stay safe and try and grab hold a little bit because she came back fighting fire with
06:42fire,
06:43which I'm not sure would be the best.
06:46And it's only her contest, remember.
06:48So very inexperienced and she's in with someone with not just more experience,
06:52but who's been in title fights, who's been part of these big occasions.
06:56And that's going to help as well, of course, in Shannon Courtney's favour.
07:00But it's just being so open to the shots that's her undoing for Booker in this one.
07:06It's coming from underneath Courtney as well.
07:08And the wicked shots, aren't they, when you let your hands go from that position, that vantage point, if you
07:13like.
07:14Well, that's a low shot from Booker on the break.
07:21Good straight jab from Shannon Courtney with the left hand.
07:25Really jolted the head back of Booker.
07:28She's always been a good puncher, Courtney.
07:30She really steps into the shot.
07:31She transfers the weight.
07:33When she comes with her left hook, she puts her weight on the front leg and really pivots on it.
07:36Gets good power, generates good potent behind it.
07:40And, you know, she stays low.
07:41She bends her knees and she transfers the weight.
07:44She punches through the target.
07:46Yeah, three knockouts in the ten victories.
07:48I remember one at York Hall where she really sort of screwed her feet into the canvas and landed a
07:53quality hook.
07:54There's a right hand from Courtney which just gets Booker disorganised again.
08:01Gently building the pressure here, Courtney.
08:05Good body shot.
08:09And she doesn't need to do anything else.
08:10The basics here will be enough and no need to force it.
08:15She's got to set those shots up.
08:17And she's hurt again here, Booker.
08:19Was that a head clash?
08:21Well, Booker has reacted like it was a head clash.
08:24There was punches raining in.
08:27She's not going to make it here.
08:29Nope, that's the end of it.
08:33Right at the end of the round.
08:34It would be so interesting to see if that was a punch or if it was a head clash.
08:40Her back, Shannon Courtney I'm talking about, was to us.
08:44So we'd have to look on the replay.
08:45But whatever it was, completely scrambled Booker.
08:48I thought she took one to the body at first.
08:50So the way that she folded, it looked like the reaction that you would give if it was a body
08:56shot.
08:56Let's have a look.
08:57It's going to...
08:58Well, she did land the body shot.
08:59That's what I thought it was.
09:01The head clash.
09:02Terrible head clash.
09:03Yeah.
09:03And then the body shot goes in here.
09:06And that's what I thought.
09:07There's the body shot.
09:07Yeah.
09:07Yeah.
09:09But no, it was definitely the clash of heads.
09:11Yeah.
09:11I thought the body shot was what folded her.
09:13But I hadn't noticed the head clash before it.
09:16But yeah, that seems to have been what's caused the problem there.
09:18And it's a shame for Booker because, you know, she's come out and give her best and very inexperienced as
09:23well.
09:24There's a lot to work on defensively for her and she's going to have to be matched carefully if she's
09:28going to continue and develop.
09:31See that so many times where it is a complete accident of the way that the two bodies are just
09:38in the wrong place and the head comes through.
09:41Shannon Courtney, you know, she's in the middle of a flurry here and that's where the body shot went in
09:46with the left hand and then followed with the right hand.
09:48That is a shame for Booker.
09:50I know it wasn't going her way, but that is not the way that you want a fight to end.
09:54No, I do think it was a good body shot though.
09:55I do think credits, you know, she did signal the shot in and it did sort of take the wind
10:01out of her.
10:07Nikisa Vidarian, CEO of Valuable Promotions behind the MVP W01 show.
10:16She's had Shannon Courtney on the MVP showcase show in December of 2024.
10:22She was saying today she's trying to convince them to get the rematch with Ebony Bridges.
10:26And she said, I'm not sure if it's translated quite across the pond, just how big that fight was, how
10:32much animosity, how it sort of grips the public.
10:34And it did. It caught everyone's imagination. It was a, you know, a really entertaining fight.
10:39That's the one she said she wants when I was talking to her today.
10:42She wants that rematch with Ebony Bridges.
10:44She's got one obviously lined up coming up there later this month.
10:48But after that, maybe she'll, they'll try and get it on.
10:51I feel sorry for Sasha Booker there because there are arguments who will rumble on about sort of instant replay
10:56option for officials.
10:58That is actually where if we had a BIR, you could have checked it, but let's get confirmation of the
11:04result.
11:04Both fighters are in center ring. So let's get confirmation from Tuka.
11:14Ladies and gentlemen, we have time of one minute and 57 seconds to the round number three.
11:20When our referee in charge, Bernard Oyet, stops the contest.
11:24Your leader by TKO, the baby face assassin, Shannon Courtney.
11:38All right. Shannon Courtney gets the win.
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