Ellie Scotney is the unified and Ring Magazine world champion and is working as a pundit on BBC for the Frazer Clarke vs Jeamie Tshikeva fight on Saturday evening
Ellie Scotney celebrates defeating Yamileth Mercado(Image: Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix)
Ellie Scotney, a unified and Ring Magazine world champion, will be providing her expert analysis as a pundit for the highly anticipated bout between Frazer Clarke and Jeamie ‘TKV’ Tshikeva on Saturday evening, broadcasted by the BBC.
Her planned fight against Mayelli Flores, which was to take place on the undercard of Jake Paul’s exhibition with Gervonta Davies on November 14, was cancelled after Scotney suffered an injury during training. The entire card was subsequently scrapped, with Paul instead agreeing to face Anthony Joshua next month.
When Scotney does eventually step into the ring, she will make history as the youngest British boxer ever to compete for the undisputed world championship.
Born in Lewisham, London, 27-year-old Scotney has had a successful career in amateur boxing before turning professional.
Earlier this year, she participated in a historic boxing event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where she triumphed over Yamileth Mercado in a match that was streamed on Netflix.
Removed from a card
In 2023, Scotney revealed that she had been removed from the Taylor v Cameron card at the request of one of the main event fighters. She was scheduled to fight Cherneka Johnson for the IBF super bantamweight world title but announced on X that she had been taken off due to a strained relationship between her trainer Shane McGuigan and one of the fighters.
“I am incredibly disappointed to say that I am now hearing I will be removed from the May 20th card in Dublin due to Chantelle Cameron and her manager insisting to my promoter that I’m not allowed to be on her undercard because of who trains me,” she penned. “This is despite having been on two cards together before with no problems whatsoever!”.
“After my world title fight had been announced (on a huge night globally for women’s boxing), my dream is now being taken away from me by a fellow fighter dictating terms and making unreasonable demands to my promoter. I cannot describe how heartbroken I am.”
Response from fighter
Chantelle Cameron then responded to Scotney’s claim. “Firstly, I am sorry that Ellie feels the way she does,” said Cameron.
“I respect her as a fighter, and I wish the situation was different, but as female fighters, who always have to work harder to prove ourselves, I would have hoped that she would have understood the situation and how important our mental health is going in to fights like these, especially as the away fighter in Dublin where Katie is hailed as a national treasure, the last thing I need is more intimidation. Yes, I am a fighter, but I am human too.”
She went on to confirm she was unable to discuss her relationship with McGuigan. “A few years ago I was almost walking away from a sport I love because of what I went through with my team and was not in a good mental or physical place at all,” she stated.
“I cannot begin to describe how horribly I was treated, and it’s a part of my life that I want to try and forget. Unfortunately, due to an NDA forced upon me, I can’t disclose any of the details of this, which is why I’ve never told the story.”
B&Q job
Five years ago, she made the leap from working at B&Q to the professional boxing world.
Scotney’s ascent has been remarkable, transitioning from selling DIY products to becoming a world boxing champion. In a 2020 interview with The Sun, she admitted she wouldn’t miss those early morning starts.
She said: “I left B&Q a couple of weeks ago when I managed to get a sponsor and I half think they were happy to get rid of me! I won’t miss the early shifts but I did nick my little orange bucket hat and almost brought it with me for the ring walk.
“And I have still got my friends-and-family discount card so I can milk that for a while until they suss me out.”
Ellie Scotney poses with Jake Paul after defeating Yamileth Mercado(Image: Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix)
DMing Jake Paul
Her boxing career began with a direct message to YouTube boxing star Jake Paul, which he initially overlooked.
She subsequently contacted Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s business partner: “I just dropped Nakisa a message and everything kind of fell into place for me. It’s been a bit of a mad one but I’m enjoying every second.”
She later added: “He’s actually read it now. That’s even worse. I’d rather be in his requests. But Nakisa came through and he opened it.”
