In leaving no stone unturned, North Notts boxer, Nicola Hopewell (1-0; 1), nicknamed ‘The Hurricane,’ has certainly enjoyed a somewhat differing training camp this time around, as she heads into Friday night’s Doncaster Dome fight, against the Spaniard, Buchra El Quaissi (3-3-3; 1).
This may be just the second, professional fight, of the 31-year-old boxer’s run in the paid ranks, but, alongside close friend, nutritionist, and personal trainer, Marfisia Lanza, they’re looking to shake things up, and in doing so, Nicola has been hill-running, in Italy.
Tarsia, a town in the Calabria region of southern Italy, is certainly a far cry from the North Notts town of Worksop, where both Nicola, and Mafisia, currently reside/work, but that Italian town, and its hilly region, have borne witness to some ‘warm-weather’ training for the boxer of late.
“It was initially supposed to be a holiday, for myself and Marfisia,” explained Nicola.
“It’s where her family is, so I was tagging along, but then I got the date for my second fight, and it clashed with my training camp, so we combined the two.
“Joe (Elfidh) my manager, knows what we are like, so he was happy to let us go there and, with Marfisia, who does my nutrition, among other things, I’ve been on-weight for weeks anyway, meaning no damage would be done, so long as I trained.
“Training though, I think Marfisia enjoyed the very steep, 10km hill-running she had me doing; but I enjoyed it though, and have been more than comfortable, throughout this camp.”
That’s not saying she wasn’t comfortable in the fight camp for her pro debut, far from it, she’s just become more aware as to how things are working, for her, as a super-flyweight, in the pro ranks.
The debut, at the home of her beloved Blades (Sheffield United), was in late August, Hopewell enjoying a TKO6 success over journey-woman, Claudia Ferenczi (now 20-98-9; 10) at Bramall Lane; fighting over 6x2s it’s an occasion she’ll long remember.
“I honestly loved my debut, even though I still can’t believe Joe, my manager, got me on there,” beamed Nicola.
“As for the fight itself, I thought I’d be in for the duration of it, however, I began to break her down in the fifth, then stopped her in the sixth.
“She (Claudia Ferenczi) was a durable, tough fighter though; I was catching her throughout, with shot after shot, but she was always there, right in front of me, so credit to her for that.”
Now though, and with her second fight night as a bona fide, BBBofC pro boxer right around the corner, Nicola heads to Doncaster, with her team, looking to make it two-from-two.
A vociferous support, ably led by fellow boxer, and friend, Ebanie ‘Blonde Bomber’ Bridges, the Australian-born fight queen, and Marfisia Lanza, Hopewell has guidance, loud and in abundance.
Her next opponent though, will bring a different skill-set to the table come fight night; Ferenczi had over a hundred outings under her belt, Hopewell will be her opponents tenth, Spaniard Buchra El Quaissi winning three and drawing three of her nine contests to date.
“This will be a really good step-up for me,” admits Hopewell, ahead of opposing Spain’s number one flyweight.
“She’s got a very even record, and I’m really excited about getting in the ring with her.
“In fact, I saw her fight Shannon Ryan, in her last fight (Ryan won PTS4), and she’s faced Shannon Courtenay (Courtenay won TKO5), so I’ve an idea what she’s like.
“It should be a good, tough test for me and, although she does swing a bit, I need to miss those, I’ll give 110%, and if the stoppage does come, I’ll look to take it.”
Come the weekend though, Hopewell will have two outings under her belt, in quick succession, and hopefully two successes, the hope is though, to keep her active as she heads towards 2023.
“If all goes well on Friday night, then, hopefully, I’ll be back out again before Christmas,” explained the Worksop fighter.
“That’s what Joe and the team are looking for, and I trust them, and their judgements, to pick the right fights, at the right time for me.”
Nicola Hopewell will face Buchra El Quaissi, over 6x2s, at the Doncaster Dome, Friday 28 October, on promoter (GBM Sports) Issrar Asif’s, twelve-fight card, featuring fellow Notts boxer, undefeated Declan Cairns (6-0;1), who opposes MJ Hall (2-89-2) over four rounds.
*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).
*Main image @NicolaHopewell a first fight won with now sights on a second win.
