Eddie Hearn Believes Skye Nicolson Could Become One Of The Biggest Stars In Women’s Boxing
- Aussie star Skye Nicolson will get her first world title fight this Spring in Las Vegas, USA
- Eddie Hearn Believes the undefeated Olympian could be a major star in women’s boxing
- Nicolson-Mahfoud Features On A Card Topped By Richardson Hitchins & Diego Pacheco
It’s a first world title shot for Aussie star Skye Nicolson (9-0, 1 KO) on April 6 in Las Vegas as the 2020 Olympian battles Denmark’s Sarah Mahfoud (14-1, 3 KOs) for the WBC Featherweight championship.
The title was recently relinquished by Amanda Serrano – a move that everybody except Nicolson was surprised by.
“Nearly a year ago, she was like ‘I want to fight Amanda Serrano’,” Promoter Eddie Hearn told The Punch Podcast, “I was like ‘Wow, where’s that come from’.”
“When she got into the mandatory position, she said to me ‘I’m telling you now Amanda Serrano won’t fight me… I think they know I’ve got the style to beat her’. The Mandatory got called and Amanda Serrano vacated the title and I was like ‘Wow you were right’.”
Nicolson was then ordered to face the next highest-ranked, available contender Mahfoud, who dropped a decision to Serrano in Sep 2022.
“Mahfoud wanted it in neutral territory, she wanted the opportunity to fight in Las Vegas, it was a great place for Skye to fight as well. April 6, what a chance for Skye Nicolson.”
There were hopes of staging the fight in Nicolson’s native Australia and Hearn has clarified that fighting down under is still the goal for Nicolson later this year if she wins the WBC championship.
“We hope this will be the catalyst to bring Skye Nicolson home as a world champion. I want to see her headlining on the Gold Coast, in Brisbane/Melbourne.”
Hearn Believes Skye Nicolson Is Underrated
The skilful southpaw will be a heavy favourite against the once-beaten Mahfoud, and Hearn believes this is because of Nicolson’s talent rather than the calibre of the opponent.
“Skye is massively underrated because of the style. When you look at her amateur pedigree and what she achieved, she had 150 amateur fights. She’s been boxing since her early teens and of course, her family is engrossed in the sport of boxing.”
“Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist, World amateur bronze medallist, Olympian. She achieved nearly everything in the amateur code.”
“She’s getting better and better, stronger and stronger. She got her first stoppage last time out, Mikaela Mayer couldn’t do that to Lucy Wildheart – two divisions above.”
Hearn Says Nicolson Can Be One Of The Faces Of Women’s Boxing
“She’s got a chance to be a real star, you talk about Katie Taylor/Amanda Serrano/Claressa Shields. Skye’s got a chance to start joining the conversation to be in that club.”
“The way she’s progressing, the way she’s getting more aggressive in her fights. She can win the belt against Mahfoud and do a job on her, that’s a massive statement.”
“She’s got the benefit and the blessing of being a real global star. She’s got a big following in the UK, US, Aus.”
Nicolson has boxed in New York, Mexico, Australia, Dublin and other locations and now gets to tick Vegas off her list as she will appear on a US TV main card for the first time.