Wolverhampton’s Kirstie Bavington took on April Hunter in a cracking contest on the undercard of the Marshall, Dezurn shows live on Sky Sports (01.07.23). Bavington had already beaten Hunter in a previous contest on points in October of 2021 and was her only defeat in seven contests. There was a lot of bad blood between these two female fighters which made this eight-two-minute round contest a must-see on the Boxxer Promotions show at the Manchester Arena. The contest was in the super Welterweight division with Hunter weighing in ten stone thirteen and Bavington coming in ten stone nine with Jon Latham reffing.
Aggressive start by Bavington who looked to get on the inside and work away, Hunter also started on the front foot which lead to a head clash with Bavington sustaining a cut on the left side of her hairline, but I had Bavington winning it. Cutman Paul Mann did a good job on the cut in Bavington’s corner before the second which started a very scrappy round that seemed to suit Bavington. Hunter got some good shots off but Bavington returned fire with nice body shots of her own nicking the round. The third round was very competitive with Bavington doing well but Hunter won this with the cleaner shots. Bavington continued to apply pressure in the fourth to Hunter who seemed to be getting her timing right and got some nice shots off, Bavington worked the body well on the inside winning the round.
Hunter showed some great shot-picking in the fifth and caught Bavington who never took a step back with some eye-catching shots to win the round. Cracking sixth round with both fighters getting good shots off and putting a great display of the none art, Bavington finished the round strong to nick the round. Hunter came out with some nice jabs and then caught Bavington with a lovely looping right hand which dropped Bavington. Bavington got straight back up took the eight count and continued, Hunter was now full of confidence with Bavington weathering the storm to see the round out. Bavington left it all in the ring in the final round but Hunter stayed composed and picked her shots well edging the round.
Ref John Latham scored it 76 to 75 I had it the same.
Dexter’s Thoughts
What a cracking eight-round contest this was no belts on the line but a great display of how far female boxing has come. The only thing spreading these fighters in this contest was the knockdown and I have a funny feeling that if Bavington hadn’t been stopped she may have won that round and the fight. Bavington has lost three in a row now but they have all been on the road on big shows against headline fighters which is always going to put her at a disadvantage. Bavington has competed well in all three fights and is definitely at this level, in my opinion, all the tough Wolverhampton fight needs is the rub of the green and get a win in one of these big fights. Bavington is a tough aggressive fighter and is an inspiration to her pupils at the school she works at and all-female fighters not to give up. With the backing of the BcB Promotions Bavington will be back out soon and I'm sure there are more titles in her future.
Comments