Making her long awaited return to the ring, Lucy Wildheart reignited her career with a victory over Spain’s Eva Cantos on Saturday night and kicked off her campaign towards a World featherweight title.
The Brentwood based Swedish fighter took her record to 9-1-0 (4 KO’s) with a 59-56 points victory over Cantos at Grays Civic Hall and aims to build on her momentum with another fight next month.
World top ten rated Wildheart, 29, is targeting the winner out of the massive World Featherweight unification showdown between Amanda Serrano and Sarah Mahfoud next Saturday in Manchester.
With her last fight in August last year and inactivity due to managerial issues now resolved, Wildheart was keen for a test on her return and the tough and solid Cantos provided that.
From the first bell Wildheart stamped her authority on the front foot with a stiff jab and straight right hand that keep Cantos at bay. Wildheart boxed to orders, she was fast on her feet and stepping in to land quick combinations, mixed with some eye catching and hard body shots, before moving out at angles to win on the referee’s scorecard.
“That’s job done and onto the next next one.” Said Wildheart. “That was pretty much everything that me and my trainer Samm Mullins had been working on in the gym together and I did what he said and executed the strategy perfectly. Cantos was a tough girl and she can definitely cause problems, but I felt completely in control in the ring. It was probably my best fight to date despite being out of the ring for over a year, I felt that I was much better than in my last fight. I did a lot of rounds sparring with Ebanie Bridges [IBF World Bantamweight Champion] in the build up to this fight and it definitely benefited me.”
Wildheart will be keeping a close eye on the outcome of the Serrano-Mafoud contest and will be primed and ready to face the winner if called upon, but she has a leaning towards Danish rival Mafoud that could lead to an explosive all-Nordic World title showdown.
She added, “I can’t wait to see who comes out on top and I’ll be happy to face whoever wins. Of course if Mahfoud comes out on top then that would be a gigantic Sweden-Denmark clash that would be a massive sporting event for the two nations. I’ve got some fights lined up in the coming weeks so it’s fantastic to be active again and now I’m fully focused on getting my World title shot.”
Trainer Samm Mullins added, “I came away delighted with Lucy’s performance and we’re ready to go out again. She’s a strong and aggressive boxer, but we’ve been working heavily on new technical things in the gym ahead of her return and it worked out great. Santos was a hard opponent but Lucy nailed it with her feet, head movement and body punching. We’ve got plenty more to come and it’s now about activity and continual improvement.”
Wildheart’s new manager Richard Maynard, CEO of Strike Sports Management, said, “It was great to see Lucy back in the ring and resume her career with a victory over a tough and hard opponent in Cantos. I was very impressed with her jab, fast feet, head movement and particularly her hurtful body punching. It was like she hadn’t been away from the ring. This is a great foundation to build upon and I’ll be looking to get her back in the ring in the next few weeks’ as she intensifies her campaign towards a World title opportunity.”
