Baumgardner holds IBF, WBA and WBO belts after competitive fight in New York
Alycia Baumgardner retained her titles with a unanimous decision over Bo Mi Re Shin in New York. The scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92 after ten rounds.
The victory keeps Baumgardner in control of the IBF, WBA and WBO junior lightweight belts and moves her record to 18-1 (7 KOs). Shin drops to 19-4-3 (10 KOs).
Baumgardner looked sharp early. Her jab landed cleanly in the opening rounds, and she used straight right hands to catch Shin coming in. It had the look of a champion settling into a routine defense. Shin had other ideas.
The South Korean challenger kept walking forward and changed the pace in the third round when she landed a hard right hand that shook Baumgardner. She had another good spell later in the fight when Baumgardner was forced to grab and slow things down after getting caught in an exchange.
Those moments gave the bout more intrigue than the final scorecards suggested.
Baumgardner still had the cleaner work. When she boxed at range, used her feet, and worked behind the jab, Shin had trouble landing cleanly. Late in the fight, Baumgardner relied more on movement and timing, forcing Shin to chase rather than set her pressure. That adjustment helped close the door over the final rounds.
The fight ended with both women trading, drawing a strong reaction from the crowd, but Baumgardner had already banked enough rounds to keep her belts.
The post-fight message came quickly. Baumgardner did not mention Caroline Dubois. She aimed higher.
“Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, what’s up?” Baumgardner said in the ring.
That may be the part promoters notice most. Baumgardner won, had tense moments, and still left the arena attached to bigger names.
