Terri Harper’s hopes of becoming the women’s unified super featherweight champion have been dashed after she withdrew with another hand injury.
Harper (11-0-1, 6 KOs) had been due to put her WBC title on the line against WBA champion Hyun-Mi Choi (18-0-1, 4 KOs) on May 15 at the Manchester Arena.
The 24-year-old would have been making the third defence of the championship she won against Eva Wahlstrom in February 2020.
“Absolutely devasted to announce that in my last spar of camp I have damaged my hand again,” Harper explained. The Brit suffered a broken right hand in the fourth round of her last fight against Katharina Thanderz.
“Heartbroken is not the word. Myself and my team have worked so hard over the last five months to ensure I had the best recovery and had a full training camp with no problems with my hand.”
Renowned hand surgeon Mike Hayton was able to accommodate Harper at short notice to ensure she received a scan. The scan revealed a snapped plate and a re-fracture of her hand. Harper said she hopes to be getting an operation on the injury next week.
“I’m only 24-years-old with many big nights ahead, this is just a small set back and will be back stronger than ever.”
Harper went go on to apologise promoter Eddie Hearn, Matchroom and Sky Sports who were due to televise her unification bout.
“An even bigger sorry to Hyun Mi Choi and her team. Hopefully this unification can happen before the end of the year, it’s still my dream to unify and be on the road to undisputed.”
Main Image: Mark Robinson