Heather Hardy Wants to Fight Whoever Fans Want

By J.P. Yim and David A. Avila

BROOKLYN, NY-After a convincing victory Heather “the Heat” Hardy declared on Thursday that nothing less than a world title shot is on her target sights.

“I’m really interested in fights for the WBC world title,” said Hardy who currently holds the WBC International title.

Hardy (20-0, 4 Kos) defeated an even more determined Edina Kiss (14-4) who was getting a second crack at the Brooklyn prizefighter. This time the featherweight battle took place at Paramount Theater, but ended with the same result on the DiBella Entertainment.

Kiss, a sturdy and rugged blond from Hungary, has always proven to be ready and able to accept any challenge. In her first fight with Hardy she proved not ready for the more polished boxing skills the New Yorker presented last March.

On Thursday, Kiss met fury with fury and presented a more competitive challenge for Hardy. Both scrapped early in every round of the eight-round fight.

“She was pretty tough. I definitely thought I had her a couple of times but she kept swinging back,” said Hardy, 35. “She kept swinging back before I could move in and finish it.”

In their first encounter Hardy’s more polished boxing ability was able to offset Kiss’s pure aggressiveness. But the Hungarian fights often and learns quickly and she proved that in the rematch.

“My hats off to her, she was a great opponent,” Hardy said. “She definitely fought pretty hard this time. She was throwing some nice uppercuts. A couple of them caught me.”

After eight rounds all three judges scored it the same 80-72 for Hardy.

“She definitely brought a nice fight tonight,” said Hardy. “I hope we put on a good show for everybody.”

Now the Irish-American wants bigger game regardless of the threat to her undefeated record.

“I’m really only interested in doing championship fights,” she said after the fight. “I got to give my fans something to get up for. The fans can tell me who they want to see next. I’m ready for it.”

MMA

Hardy announced she will be participating in her first MMA fight this coming summer on June 24, at the Bellator show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“I’ll be fighting at 125. It’s very demanding,” said Hardy about her training regimen. “It’s a lot of gyms, a lot of different sports and a lot of different disciplines but I’m ready for it.”

“You only live once and I’m 35, so not much time,” she said.

(Photo by JP Yim)