Fran Hennessy was given a fright and pushed to the wire by a game and courageous Ellie Bouttell.
Hennessy, headlining at the Copper Box in London, won a majority decision by margins of 97-93 and 96-94, with one judge unable to separate them at 95-95.
Bouttell, who actually started the contest with a blackened right eye, and both looked like they had been in a fight by the end of it.
Hennessy was cut by the right eye in the second round and Bouttell tried to work the body of the ambitious 21-year-old. Hennessy put her punches together in the third and Bouttell was also bleeding by her right eye, but the China-based Englishwoman kept coming forward and was forcing Hennessy to fight.
Hennessy swept forward behind a good left hand in the third, but there was little in it and Hennessy didn’t have the power to keep her industrious opponent off.
Although the bout was being contested more in the manner Bouttell would have wanted, Hennessy was still having success when she moved in. But Bouttell was not deterred, and she was happy to walk forward and drag Hennessy into a battle.
It was hard-fought and close. Hennessy wasn’t given the time or the space to shine, and Bouttell matched her every step of the way.
A Hennessy left hook landed in the 10th round as both boxed like the verdict depended on the last two minutes, but Bouttell gave her no respite and clubbed away with right hands. They embraced at the bell and the decision hung in the balance, but Hennessy had done enough and Bouttell didn’t complain.
It was an entertaining and well-matched bout that only received main event status after the bout between Adam Azim and Gustavos Lemos was postponed.
Bouttell is now 7-1-1 (2 KOs), while Hennessy improved to 8-0 (1 KO).
