Terri Harper has learnt to live with the large scar on her right hand. It is a year since she has boxed after twice breaking her right hand. There is a smaller scar on her hip too, where the surgeon took some bone to piece together her hand with two metal plates. The important thing is that she is ready to box again.  

“I’ve got a nice war wound, but it is better than the lump I had before,” Harper said. “I’m not too bothered about these scars as long as I can fight still. 

On Saturday she returns to the ring in Sheffield when she puts her WBC/IBO super featherweight titles on the line against Alycia Baumgardner. It is a relief that she is back, because at one point she feared her career might be over. 

It was this weekend 12 months ago that Harper broke her right hand in her stoppage win over Katharina Thanderz. She had surgery and was due back in May in a unification fight with WBA champion Hyun Mi Choi. But in her final spar with Raven Chapman that she broke the hand again. 

“It was the same break but there were complications, like there was a bit of sharp metal and I know Mike (Hayton, the hand surgeon) was worried about that catching the tendons or ligaments,” Harper said. “Luckily, we got away with that and it’s back and flat, it made me realize how bad it was to go through a full training camp with my hand like that. But you live and you learn. 

“They took some bone off my hip, that was the most painful part of the recovery. There is a plate on top, a plate down the side and six screws.” 

While she is confident that the hand is solid now, when she rebroke it, she feared her career might be over. 

“I was driving to Manchester to see Mike thinking ‘I’ve ruined my boxing career, what am I going to do for a job?” she said. “I remember lying in bed that night looking for jobs, seeing what is out there. I’ve got a car on finance and I was thinking ‘am I going to have to give my car back?’  

“Mike said ‘it’s fixable’. I was stressing too much about it. But that has made me appreciate everything in this camp. There are days when you are tired, but I appreciate it all because when I did my hand I thought my career was over. I’ve done a lot less complaining this camp.” 

Having seen Mikaela Mayer unify the WBO and IBF titles last week, Harper hopes a fight with the American is not too far away. 

“We were told the unification with Choi was still possible, she is tied up with a contract, but when it came to agreeing the fight, she said she wanted a full training camp in America,” Harper said. “She had just fought and didn’t have enough time, which was fair enough. So, then I thought we would get the mandatory out of the way with (Elhem) Mekhaled because she has been vocal saying she wants her shot and she came back again saying she wants more time. So, then we looked at getting a respectable opponent, because I needed to get out.  

“Not overlooking Alycia but I want to get back on track, back where we were, either if it is Choi or Mekhaled early next year, I am happy with either one. I want to get back the momentum. You have seen this huge fight with Mayer and Hamadouche, I want to be back in the mix with them. 

“You’ve got to take your hat off to Mayer, she is building a big fight and I believe that is the big fight at super-feather, the biggest fight for me. 

“From growing up I’ve always wanted to go to America, just on vacation. If I can ever get out there and fight it is like two for one. I would love that opportunity.”