Who is Skye Nicolson? Australian to fight Sarah Mahfoud for WBC featherweight title | Sporting News India

by Admin
April 4, 2024

The vacant WBC featherweight title is set to go on the line when Skye Nicolson faces Sarah Mahfoud in Las Vegas on April 6.

Nicolson already holds the interim title with the WBC at 126-pounds and will hope to upgrade it to the full strap when she faces the Dane at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, live on DAZN.

Amanda Serrano has long been the queen at featherweight but Nicolson is gunning for her crown.

MORE: Every current Australian boxing world champion

Who is Skye Nicolson?

Nicolson is a 28-year-old former Olympian who has started her professional career with a bang.

The Australian southpaw is 9-0 in the paid ranks, having left a decorated amateur career behind after a heart-breaking loss in the Tokyo Olympics.

Born and raised in Queensland, Nicolson now calls Bromley, near London, home, training under Eddie Lam at Ibox Gym.

Nicolson’s entire pro career has been under the Matchroom Boxing banner and has seen her fight in USA, England, Australia, Wales, Mexico and Ireland.

In September, Nicolson claimed the interim WBC world featherweight title when outpointing Sabrina Perez in Tijuana.

She then scored the first stoppage of her career to defend the belt against Lucy Wildheart on the undercard to Katie Taylor’s rematch victory over Chantelle Cameron.

Nicolson vs. Mahfoud: Who wins?

“I think a lot of people thought my last fight was going to be a tough test for me but I know what I’m capable of,” Nicolson told Sporting News last year.

“I didn’t overlook Lucy Wildheart but I knew that fight was going to be a big statement.

“I’ve said from day one, the better the opponent, the better the Skye Nicolson you’ll see on the night.”

Nicolson is confident of another emphatic victory when she takes on Mahfoud.

“I know she won three rounds against [Amanda] Serrano just over a year ago. She won’t win three rounds against me,” she added.

“That was the same against Wildheart, she won three rounds against Mikaela Meyer. She wasn’t winning three rounds against me, never, it wasn’t even going to be close.

“I feel very confident, I know she’s a good boxer but that works in my favour, I like fighting good boxers.”

What’s next for Skye Nicolson?

Throughout much of 2023, Nicolson had been weighing up whether to return to the amateur ranks in order to have another crack at Olympic gold in Paris.

In the end, she decided to remain in the pros and she’s confident it’s the right decision as she eyes off new goals.

“I didn’t have that same hunger and that same drive that I once had and I knew that my horizons had broadened and the Olympic games wasn’t my priority anymore,” she said.

“It became an easy decision, I’m so all-in on my pro career, there’s been a switch in me and I think you’ve probably seen that in my last two fights.

“I would love to be crowned undisputed and have an undisputed Australian world champion.

“I’d love to get them one by one. Beat the best in that sanctioning body’s rankings, beat the best in that sanctioning body’s rankings.

“I feel like 2024 is the year that I become one of the big names that can be in superfights.”