Terri Harper retained her WBO lightweight title with a points victory so one-sided that it was a surprise all three judges gave the plucky Natalie Zimmerman one round on their unanimous 99-91 scorecards. Afterwards, the victor called out Caroline Dubois, an altogether more fitting rival.
“[Dubois] rubs me up the wrong way – she gets my fire burning,” Harper said. “I hope that’s what comes next. I’ll wait and see if any contracts turn up over the next few weeks.”
This was clearly an emotional occasion for Harper, a Doncaster, England, native fighting at her local soccer team’s stadium in front of her family and friends. But Natalie Zimmerman, a wildly outclassed former kickboxer, always seemed like a peculiar choice for a dance partner.
Harper, who outpointed Rhiannon Dixon to win the WBO belt eight months ago and is now 16-2-2 (6 KOs), controlled from the opening seconds as the chasm in skill levels became glaringly apparent.
Zimmerman, a 42-year-old from Germany, was 13-0 (3 KOs) coming in, but not one of her previous opponents boasted a winning record. The challenger’s approach was brave, willing and rudimentary in the extreme, as she left herself wide open to counters by coming in square on to the vastly superior Harper.
The titleholder exposed Zimmerman each time she opened up – a looping left hand in Round 3 caused a significant stumble before the German’s legs buckled from a right hook in the fourth – but Zimmerman, the underdog who throughout fight week had spoken of her delight to get this chance, proved durable and, to her credit, never once stopped giving her all.
“She’s tough, very tough,” said Harper afterwards. “I knew I needed to stay switched on and not let my mind drift. Once I’d let the nerves settle, I was fine.”
Harper, 28, was indeed guilty of trying too hard herself at times. Aware of her opponent’s limitations and faced with a foe whose inexperience fed an unorthodox and unpredictable approach, Harper grew frustrated with her own inability to get Zimmerman out of there.
It was apparent by the sixth round that Zimmerman’s durability was her biggest strength as she soaked up punishment from Harper’s jab and trailing right hand. Zimmerman continued to march forward in Rounds 8 and 9, throwing speculative hooks, even when Harper briefly thumped her off track with straight counters and the odd right uppercut through the middle.
By the 10th round, such was Zimmerman’s bravery that even a gaping cut on the challenger’s forehead couldn’t stop her from hearing the final bell. Though well beaten in every department, Zimmerman can be proud of her effort.
Matt Christie, a lifelong fight fan, has worked in boxing for more than 20 years. He left Boxing News in 2024 after 14 years, nine of which were spent as editor-in-chief. Before that, he was the producer of weekly boxing show “KOTV.” Now the co-host of ”The Opening Bell” podcast and regularly used by Sky Sports in the UK as a pundit, Matt was named as the Specialist Correspondent of the Year at the prestigious Sports Journalism Awards in 2021, which was the seventh SJA Award he accepted during his stint in the hot seat at Boxing News. The following year, he was inducted into the British Boxing Hall of Fame. He is a member of the BWAA and has been honored several times in their annual writing awards.