Ellie Scotney has known she was going to get a world title fight for some time, but that does not mean she is not bursting with excitement ahead of challenging IBF super-bantamweight champion Cherneka Johnson on Saturday.
Popular Scotney, from Catford, is trained by Shane McGuigan and spent part of her early career working with Adam Booth. Scotney is a student of the game and has watched various stablemates hit the heights, but now it is her time.
“I’m excited,” the 25-year-old said. “It’s been a long time coming, I’ve been waiting since October [2022] when I became mandatory, so I’m ready to go now.”
Johnson, boxing out of Australia for the first time, has been in Scotney’s sights for months as the teams have tried to settle on a date. The Australian is 15-1 (6KOs) and at 28-years-old is going in to Scotney’s backyard at the Wembley Arena.
“Since October she’s been a target that I’ve wanted,” Scotney, who is 6-0, added. “She’s a good all-round fighter, she’s the champion so I’ve got to take that [title] away from her. She’s a neat, tidy boxer, she can press well, she’s got a good jab, she does all the basics well and she is a solid fighter.”
Of working with McGuigan, whose camp was buoyed by the recent success of newly-minted WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith, Scotney said: “I’ve been here [at McGuigan’s Gym] just over a year now and I’m on the cusp of a world title, so it’s been a great time, with great people and I’m learning every day.”
McGuigan trained David Haye for several fights at the back end of the former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion’s career, and it was watching Haye – who ironically spent much of his career with Booth – that leads Scotney to believe that winning a title is meant to be, and certainly everything she had ever wanted.
“It is an occasion I’ve been waiting for,” Scotney explained. “Even since I was a kid, since I was nine, I was watching streams of David Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli [in their all-British world cruiserweight clash], so to be a pro is always what I’ve wanted to do and it’s destiny.”
