After her match with Cecilia Brækhus on the undercard of the Taylor-Cameron match was forcibly canceled due to Brækhus’ sudden bout of illness, Terri Harper has found a new opponent to fight with; Ivana Habazin. The British WBA women’s Super Welterweight champion will be facing Habazin on the undercard of the Lara vs. Wood event, scheduled for Saturday, May 27th, at the Manchester Arena in Manchester.
Croation challenger Ivana Habazin (21-4, 7 KO’s) comes equipped with perhaps more experience at the top than potentially 26-year old Terri Harper (13-1-1, 6 KO’s) herself. Having been a former world champion (at Welterweight) herself, Habazin has further built herself up as a top contender for the past decade and has participated in multiple world title fights.
Despite only ever having been a one-time world champion, Ivana Habazin has notably fought some of the best boxers of her time, including undisputed Middleweight champion Claressa Shields (13-0, 2 KO’s), and former undisputed Welterweight champion Cecilia Brækhus (37-2, 9 KO’s).
Though Terri Harper was supposed to face Cecilia Brækhus just a few days ago at the 3Arena in Dublin, headlined by Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron, Ivana Habazin, 33, seems to be just as good of a match as Brækhus ― if not a better one given the Croatian is younger by at least seven years compared to Brækhus (who is currently 41). The two will be fighting at 154 pounds where Terri Harper’s WBA world title will e put on the line.
A win for either fighter could potentially see them unify with unified Super Welterweight champion Natasha Jonas (13-2-1, 8 KO’s) who currently holds the last three remaining belts in the division. A fight against Jonas would therefore also be for undisputed.