Terri Harper leaves USA rival seeing stars
Terri Harper bounced back in style to beat Miranda Reyes in Birmingham
Terri Harper came up Trumps in the battle between the UK and the USA.
South Yorkshire's three division champion demolished her American opponent Miranda Reyes in the second round at Birmingham's bp pulse LIVE Arena on Saturday night.
Bouncing back after defeat to Caroline Dubois at lightweight, she gave every indication that a fourth weight division title mission, could be on the cards.
Terri, 29, from Denaby Main, lived up to expectations in stopping Miranda, 24, from El Paso, Texas, in the scheduled eight-round MVPW-06 UK vs USA bout.
The victory was Harper's first at 140lbs and kept alive her ambition of becoming a world champion at super lightweight.
The early exchanges had suggested the American wasn't here to make the numbers up.
Small and squat in comparison, she launched a few forays to the body but without causing any real issues.
Sixteen seconds into the second round, Terri fired a left hook which sent her opponent to the canvas.
The pair then traded at the centre of the ring until Harper's right and left hand combinations dumped Reyes for a second time and the fight was waved off, just 47 seconds into the second.
The Mexican-American, who fights under the nickname “La Alacrana” (The Scorpion) looked dazed and disorientated and was sportingly comforted by Harper.
Harper's performance earned her £10,000 as MVP's Performance of the Night, while she also collected a £5,000 Team UK victory bonus and a further £5,000 “OOOSCH” Moment of the Night bonus.
The win was followed the slightly odd sight of American promoter Jake Paul draping a union flag over Terri's shoulders.
MVP's reaction was certainly enthusiastic, with the promotion declaring after the stoppage that “Terri Harper is BACK in a big way!
Terri described it as: "One of the best performances of my career. I'm very happy with that."
She told Sky Sports: "It's good to do that to build the fight up, but you can't get rid of me that easily!" - a pointed response to Reyes' pre-fight claim that she was going to retire her.
Harper also said: "This journey that I've been on through my boxing career, the highs and lows - I'm just grateful for MVP bringing me back so soon after my last fight."
And, looking ahead, she added: "I've got a lot more to give you!"
Notable attendees in Birmingham included Sheffield trained Ebanie Bridges, who was briefly in the spotlight after a ringside flare-up with Watford's Shannon Courtenay, who had earlier tied with Ebonie Cotton on Saturday's card.
Back in 2021, Courtenay beat Bridges, now Kell Brook's partner, and there remains bad blood.
Bridges said later it had been a case of "Shanny taking it out on me because she got a draw."
She added on Instagram: "Get the contract and let’s see how long you last with me this time round when I have two good eyes instead of one closed from your headbutts."