WBO world lightweight female champion Terri Harper (16-2-2, 6 KOs) dominated the much less experienced Natalie Zimmermann (13-1, 3 KOs), winning a wide 10-round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster, England. It was atrocious matchmaking for this fight. Why on Earth was Harper fighting this kind of opponent?
(The fight was a total mismatch from the word go, as Harper was far too skilled for the 42-year-old Zimmerman. In the tenth, the German fighter suffered a bad cut above her right eye from a clash of heads. Blood leaked in rivers from the cut, but the referee, Steve Gray, allowed it to continue. The scores were 99-91, 99-91, and 99-91.
Harper, 28, had Zimmermann hurt several times in the fight, but couldn’t put her away due to her toughness. She just kept coming forward, putting pressure on Harper, landing mostly weak shots. Harper picked off at will with shots, but surprisingly, Zimmermann stayed in there, continued to fight. If Terri had more power, she would have gotten the knockout, but she’s more of a finesse-level fighter.
Maxi Hughes Dominates Archie Sharp
In the disappointing co-feature, lightweight contender Maxi Hughes (29-7-2, 6 KOs) defeated Archie Sharp (25-2, 9 KOs) by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision to capture the vacant WBC Silver lightweight title. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 120-108.
Hughes staggered Sharp in the seventh round after catching him with a right hand. Sharp held on tightly when Hughes went for the finisher with a follow-up barrage of shots.
Sharp, 30, showed no interest in engaging throughout the fight. He mostly showedboated, fighting with his hands down, feigning bolo punches and running. Even in the later rounds, Sharp showed no ambition to try and fight, and continued to spoil. It was weird. It’s unclear if his corner was telling him that he was ahead or what, but he was not throwing punches.
Hughes was catching Sharp with counters and making him pay during the times that he did attempt to throw. In rounds 10 through 12, Archie put up the white flag, choosing to run around and do absolutely nothing to win the fight.
Full Results:
- Terri Harper def. Natalie Zimmermann – Unanimous Decision (99-91 x3)
- Maxi Hughes def. Archie Sharp – Unanimous Decision (115-113, 116-112, 120-108)
- Haitham Laamouz def. Jimmy Joe Flint – Unanimous Decision (98-93, 98-92, 96-94)e
- Lewis Sylvester def. Reece Mould – Split Decision (97-93, 96-94, 94-96)
- Taz Nadeem def. Bahadur Karami – Unanimous Decision (60-55)
- Ed Hardy def. Darwing Martinez – Unanimous Decision (60-52)