Terri Harper was rather reluctantly tucking into some porridge – mixed with courgette to “add volume” – when the phone rang.
The 27-year-old, who was cutting weight for her world-title challenge against WBO lightweight champion Rhiannon Dixon on 28 September, was told that headliner Johnny Fisher had suffered an injury.
“It’s happening again, is this fight cursed?” Harper asked herself.
The bout was due to take place at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena in August before an injury to main event fighter Jack Catterall.
It was rescheduled to the Utilita Arena in Sheffield for the following month, and then changed to London’s Copper Box when Dalton Smith pulled out with an injury.
After heavyweight Fisher’s withdrawal, however, promoters Matchroom insisted the fight went ahead.
Harper and Dixon were moved back to Sheffield and upgraded to the top of the card, albeit at the much smaller Canon Medical Arena.
“I’m just gutted for everyone who has picked up injuries,” Harper tells BBC Sport before Saturday’s bout.
“I’m just being very careful and getting wrapped up in bubble wrap.”
An ‘intimate’ venue & a ‘natural weight’
A week on from Daniel Dubois’ stunning win over Anthony Joshua in front of a record 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, another all-British world-title contest will take place in a more low-key setting.
The 2,500 capacity venue is the country’s first carbon-neutral built arena and is home to the Sheffield Sharks and Sheffield Hatters basketball teams.
“I’ve always said I’d love to fight at somewhere like York Hall, a small and intense atmosphere, but you need to be careful what you wish for,” Harper jokes.
“It will be a bit like going back to small hall boxing and I kind of like that. It will be intimate with the crowd.”
The WBA light-middleweight champion drew a unification fight with Cecilia Braekhus in October and was then stopped in the fourth round by WBO welterweight champion Sandy Ryan in March.
While she has no regrets about jumping between different divisions, Harper feels she is now at a more “natural” weight after realising she “wasn’t big enough for the heavier divisions”.
Last roll of the dice for Harper?
Harper is a former super-featherweight champion, so will seek to become a three-weight champion against Warrington’s 29-year-old Dixon who has won all 10 pro bouts.
“Rhiannon does remind me of myself. She keeps herself to herself, there are no bad or cross words, smack talk or ego,” Harper says.
Having enjoyed great success with long-time trainer Stefy Bull, Harper has “dragged” her old amateur coach, Paul Durose, out of retirement after defeat to Derby’s Ryan.
“I needed something fresh and to get the fire burning. I lost the love for the sport to a point where I could have walked away,” she adds.
She describes the fight as a “last roll of the dice” but falls short of confirming whether would hang up the gloves with a loss.
“Would I want to rebuild on boxing and see what other doors might open for me? For now I’ve kind of pushed that for one side,” she says.
