Women's IBF and WBO super bantamweight champion Ellie Scotney headlines the latest wave of signees to Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions and will face WBC champion Yamileth Mercado on the undercard of the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano trilogy fight July 11 in New York, the promotion said Wednesday.
Scotney is joined by IBF bantamweight champion Shurretta Metcalf (14-4-1), WBA interim featherweight champion Jennifer Miranda (12-0) and undefeated Elizabeth Oshoba (9-0) on MVP's growing roster of women's boxers. Metcalf will headline the Taylor-Serrano 3 preliminaries against fellow MVP fighter and unified women's bantamweight champion Dina Thorslund (23-0). It was recently announced that Miranda would challenge undisputed women's super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner in the co-main event.
The signing of Scotney adds another accomplished women's fighter to MVP and further solidifies the promotion's commitment to women's boxing.
"Taylor vs. Serrano 3 headlines an unprecedented lineup of world title fights, with every fight on our main card to be an undisputed or unified women's world championship fight. This is the most stacked women's boxing card in history, bringing together six of the top fifteen pound-for-pound female fighters -- including four of the top ten -- on Boxrec," MVP co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian said in a statement to ESPN.
Fighting out of London, Scotney (10-0) made her professional debut in October 2020 following a strong amateur showing. In her seventh professional fight, she claimed her first piece of gold by dethroning IBF super bantamweight champion Cherneka Johnson by unanimous decision in June 2023. In April 2024, she defeated Ségolène Lefebvre to add the WBO title.
"What MVP is doing for women's boxing is changing the game, and I'm proud to be part of it," Scotney said in a statement to ESPN. "Fighting on the main card of Taylor vs. Serrano 3 at Madison Square Garden, live on Netflix -- in another unification fight -- is a massive moment in my career, but it is one I know I am ready for. Yamileth Mercado might be the longest reigning champion in our division right now, but on July 11th I'll be showing why I'm the number one at 122 lbs and moving one step closer to becoming the undisputed champion."
Fighting out of Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, México, Mercado has been the WBC women's super bantamweight champion since 2019, when she avenged a split decision loss to Fatuma Zarika. She has successfully defended the title on eight occasions, with her only loss during that tenure coming to Serrano when she unsuccessfully attempted to become a two-division champion by moving up to featherweight in 2021. She hasn't lost at 122 pounds in nearly seven years.
Rounding out the Taylor-Serrano 3 undercard will be Canada's Tamm Thibeault (2-0), who will continue to compete under equal rules to men when she faces Mary Casamassa in a middleweight bout scheduled for eight three-minute rounds.