Heather Hardy makes history by winning the WBO Women’s Featherweight Title

Women’s boxing has been gaining momentum over the years, even if there were forces trying to tear it all done. Heather Hardy and Shelly Vincent are two “OG’s” who have been at the forefront of that change. On October 27, in one of HBO’s finale boxing broadcasts, both fighters made history once again. In a bout that went ten rounds, Hardy and Vincent wowed the sold-out crowd inside the Hulu Theater inside Madison Square Garden.

In the end, it was Brooklyn’s Heather Hardy who was deemed victorious via unanimous decision (97-93, 97-93, 99-91). Her reward was the WBO Women’s Featherweight Title, her first world title in boxing. This was just the second women’s fight ever viewed on HBO Boxing.

https://twitter.com/HeatherHardyBox/status/1056552620976947200

Hardy (22-0, 1 NC) started off the contest by hitting calculating shot after calculating shot at the body of Vincent (23-2), who was trying to hold her ground. The early rounds ended up being fairly even for both, with Hardy starting to look tired. She regained momentum just in the nick of time, even after an accidental headbutt cut her open.

As time went on, Hardy was hitting clean shots while not allowing Vincent to move her up against the ropes. It was Vincent who would be getting tired in the later rounds, as Hardy was gliding past her attempted shots. When watching, it was a thing of beauty that further cemented Hardy’s dominance. Hardy then landed an uppercut in round nine. Vincent needed a knockout in order to secure the victory but was unable to connect on Hardy as round ten came to a close.

The difference maker in this fight was accuracy; Hardy landed 206 of 622 total punches (33%) while Vincent landed 148 of 683 of her own (22%).

After three straight weeks of competitive boxing for women (won by Mikaela Mayer, Katie Taylor and now Hardy), it is fair to stay there is no stopping them.

This was the second bout between the two. Back in 2016, Hardy and Vincent fought for the WBC International Women’s Featherweight Title. That bout was considered a true classic. It is hard to say where this one will hold up, but it will be known as another great moment for women in the boxing world.