Former bantamweight world champion Shannon Courtenay (8-2, 3 KOs) returned to the ring after two years out with a flat performance, losing to the now 6-3-1 (0 KOs) Catherine Tacone Ramos on points.

Courtenay’s time out of the ring was made to show as she struggled to deal with the attacking Ramos from the opening bell. Courtney was pushed back into the corners and, while trying to slip the oncoming attacks, was caught heavy.

The third and fourth followed a similar pattern, with Courtenay struggling to deal with the aggressive nature of her opponent. Courtenay dug in deep in the fourth and, with her back to the ropes, whipped in shots to the oncoming Ramos. 

Ramos again steamed forward with relentless pressure and towards the end of the fifth it was clear that Courtney was running out of ideas. The sixth was maybe Courtney’s best round but again she was on the end of sharp right hands from Ramos.

Courtenay lifted her arms at the sound of the final bell, but the look on her trainer John Gillies’ face said it all. Her celebrations were quickly ended, and Ramos fell to her knees in joy as a score of 58-56 was read out.

Meanwhile, Sam Hickey, now 1-0 (0 KOs), made an impressive start to his professional career with a shutout win against John Henry Mosquera (5-18, 1 KO) on his debut.

The Scottish middleweight’s well-drilled fundamentals, which he has brought with him from a successful amateur career, were on display from as early as the first round and it was soon clear he was a level above Mosquera. The jab and straight-right hand worked well for Hickey throughout the first two rounds. In the third, Hickey switched his attacks to the body of Mosquera and seemed to slow down the movement of his retreating opponent. 

Hickey came out for the fourth determined to get a debut stoppage victory, pressing forward and throwing heavy shots to Mosquera’s head. The Colombian soaked up the pressure and Hickey looked unhappy not to have stopped his man at the final bell. He did, however, look much happier when a score of 40-36 was read out in his favour.