Last night in Las Vegas, Australia’s Skye Nicholson scored a near-shut out decision win over Sarah Mahfoud to win the vacant WBC featherweight title. Nicholson dominated and the scores reflected this, with Nicholson winning via lopsided margins of 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91. Now 10-(1) Nicholson boxed beautifully, her jab really serving her well. Mahfoud, who is now 14-2(3), was unable to get anything going and Nicholson was smiling during the final rounds.
After the win that saw her take the WBC belt Amanda Serrano binned due to the organisation refusing to accept her demand to box 12 round fights with three-minute rounds the way male fighters do, Nicholson called out Serrano. Serrano, who holds all the other major titles at the weight, holds a decision win over Mahfoud. Serrano Vs. Nicholson would be an interesting fight to see. Serrano was actually unable to go ahead with her last scheduled fight, this back in December when Serrano was deemed “medically unfit” to enter the ring for her scheduled fight with Nina Meinke. Apparently, a hair product Serrano had used caused an eye injury.
Now, Serrano, 46-2-1(30) seems to have options regarding her next fight. Nicholson has said she will agree to box Serrano over 12, three-minute rounds if this is what it will take for the fight to get made. However, a news story ran today on RTE that says Serrano is very likely to face old foe Katie Taylor next. According to the article, Taylor, who won a close decision over Serrano in a thrilling fight in April of 2022, will face her again next.
That fight saw Taylor retain her lightweight titles and now we could be getting the sequel. As per RTE, the rematch is headed to Vegas, at The Sphere, in early June. Taylor was to have boxed a rubber-match with Chantelle Cameron up at 140 pounds, but that fight now seems to be off for the time being. If Taylor does fight Serrano again, the weight the fight will be contested at will prove interesting.
Nicholson, who wants to fight the best in the sport, might have to wait for a fight with Serrano if Taylor does indeed fight the Puerto Rican next