Sandy Ryan clinches WBO welterweight title with win over Marie Pier Houle
Sandy Ryan becomes the WBO welterweight champion in just her seventh professional fight with victory over Marie Pier Houle, following up last November's win over three-weight world champion Anahí Ester Sánchez
Sunday 23 April 2023 08:07, UK
Sandy Ryan claimed a commanding points win over Marie Pier Houle to clinch the vacant WBO welterweight title in Cardiff on Saturday night.
The former Commonwealth Games gold medallist cleaned up on the judges' scorecards as they declared the bout 99-91 98-92 and 97-93 in her favour.
Ryan becomes the UK's ninth current world champion in what marked just her seventh fight since turning professional back in 2021.
The 29-year-old stepped up her search for an emphatic stoppage in the sixth round as she inflicted a flurry of thumping head and body shots to her opponent, who continued to see her defences breached.
Houle would show her toughness in the following rounds as she sought to frustrate Ryan's aggression, taking the Derby fighter the distance.
Ryan's dominance was unwavering, though, and as the final bell for the 10th round sounded she raised her arms aloft with the knowledge that she was now a world champion.
It extends her record to 6-1 as a professional, her sole defeat coming in March 2022 via split decision against Erica Farias, who she would later beat by unanimous decision the following August to capture the vacant WBC International super lightweight title.
Ryan went on to defeat three-weight world champion Anahí Ester Sánchez by unanimous decision at Wembley Arena in November.
Her swift rise to a world title opportunity comes on the back of a strong amateur career in which she compiled a 51-19 record, including a victory over eventual Olympic gold medallist Lauren Price in 2017.
The WBO belt had been vacated by current lineal, WBC and WBO champion Jessica McCaskill in the wake of her loss to Chantelle Cameron in last November's undisputed junior welterweight clash, prompting suggestions of an eventual meeting with Ryan further down the line.
