Terri Harper to face Heather Hardy on Wood-Conlan undercard

Terri Harper will be returning on March 12, moving to lightweight following her first career loss.

Harper (11-1-1, 6 KO) will face veteran Heather Hardy (22-2, 4 KO) on the Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan card in Nottingham, England, with the fight airing on DAZN.

Harper, 25, was smashed by Alycia Baumgardner on Nov. 13, losing the WBC junior lightweight title. She had the option for a rematch, but instead opted to move up to 135 lbs.

The 39-year-old Hardy is certainly past her best days, and has last two straight fights, one at featherweight to Amanda Serrano in 2019, and another at lightweight to Jessica Camara last May. She has neither the size nor power of Baumgardner, to be sure, but Hardy is a durable, tough as nails fighter who always give a real effort and comes to fight.

In other words, while Harper — if she’s mentally good after the loss to Baumgardner — really should win, sure, but she also could have chosen an easier opponent and nobody would have said much about it. It’s a decent water-tester at 135, as Harper looks to get back on track, and a great chance for Hardy to give her career a shot in the arm, too.