Tag Archives: sweet science

big women’s boxing fight nights!

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There are two huge fight nights on the horizon for women in boxing.

As I have long contended, the excellence of these fighters continues to herald a new era for the sweet science. The promotional aspects of the sport have undergone major twists since the first appearance of women in the 2012 London Games. The perseverance of the athletes, and their unwavering belief in themselves and the sport they love, continues to push boxing to accept them on their own terms. As a chronicler of their stories, I could not be prouder.

First up will be the Claressa Shields – Franchon Crews-Dezurn rematch, a fight years in the making and marking another milestone in their epic journey together since the amateurs. As they contest for the Undisputed Heavyweight Crown, they will be joined by no less than five other worthy women’s boxing bouts on the stacked Salita Promotions‘ card contesting at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI on February 22, 2026 on DAZN. The undercard will include a 10-round interim WBA Jr. Welterweight title battle between Sam Worthington (10-0) and the veteran Argentine fighter Edith Soledad Matthysse (20-16-1). Danielle Perkins (5-1-0) will also see a return to the ring against the Australian boxer Chei Kenneally (5-0) in a 10-round, WBA Light Heavyweight championship fight. Three other undercard bouts will round out the card: Shannel Butler vs. Danila Ramos in a featherweight 8-rounder, Savannah Tini vs. Vaida Masiokaite in a jr. welterweight 8-rounder, and Jasmine Hampton vs. Agustina Solange Vazquez, in a jr. flyweight 6-rounder.

Not to be outdone, Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) is continuing its claim as the home of women’s boxing with their first card in London. Set for April 5, 2026 in the newly renovated Olympia Arena, they are taking the UK by storm with a huge all women’s boxing card to be broadcast on Sky Sports (as of this writing, there is no information on who will broadcast in the USA).

The card is headlined by two unification battles. The first is an all British affair between the Olympian and current WBC light weight champion Caroline Dubois (12-0-1) and the three-division champion and current WBO light weight champion Terri Harper (16-2-2). The co-main features unified IBF, WBC, and WBO super bantam champion Ellie Scotney (UK) (11-0) versus the Mexican contender, Mayelli Flores Rosquero (13-1-1).  The main card also features to other championship battles: Irma Garcia (Mex) (25-5-1) IBF super fly title holder vs. Emma Dolan (UK) (8-0). Chantelle Cameron (UK) (21-1) will also make a return to the ring contesting for the vacant WBO super welterweight title versus Michaela Kotaskova (CZ) (11-0-2).

MVP has also announced five preliminary bouts for the card (from the MVP press release, 2/20/2026).

Shannon “The Baby Face Assassin” Courtenay (10-3, 3 KOs) vs. Nottingham’s Sasha Booker (3-1) in an 8-round bout in the super flyweight division at 115lbs.

Elizabeth Oshoba (9-0, 5 KOs) will make her promotional debut vs. Hull, Yorkshire’s Chelsey Arnell (5-2-1) in a 6-round featherweight bout at 126lbs contested under equal rules, three-minute rounds.

Luton, Bedfordshire’s Tysie Gallagher (10-2) will also face Finland’s Teresa Makinen (5-0) in an 8-round super bantamweight bout at 122lbs.

Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire’s Gemma Richardson (2-0, 1 KO) vs. Czech boxer Johana Rochl (6-6-1, 2 KOs) in a 6-round lightweight bout at 135lbs.

Essex boxer Arjon Basi (2-0) will also join the preliminary card against to-be-named opponent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopkins v. Pascal 2!

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Hopkins v. Pascal 2!

HOPKINS V PASCAL 2

As Girlboxing readers know, I am a woman of a certain age, so watching Bernard Hopkins school young Jean Pascal with skill, tenacity, grit and a master’s knowledge of the game was sweet vindication indeed for the misjudging their first battle received back in December 2010 when Hopkins obvious win was put into the draw column.

Hopkins, a Philadelphia fighter out of the old school, fought his battle with the strength of character and deep understanding of the nuances of the sweet science that has kept him fighting since turning his life around as a young man.  Still, to watch Bernard whose antics in the ring are the stuff of legend was to watch a side of boxing that this generation’s new technicians seem to have lost in translation: that boxing is about heart, soul and bringing oneself into the ring in a kind of symbiotic relationship with the audience who rises and falls with each blistering jab and upper cut.

And so it was last night with Bernard’s right hand leads that towards the latter part of the fight seemed to take Jean Pascal’s breath away and brought the capacity crowd who’d booed Hopkins in the early rounds solidly into his corner.

With this win, Bernard Hopkins enters the history books as the oldest fighter to win a major boxing title, in this case the light heavyweight WBC, IBO and The Ring magazine titles, surpassing only the great George Foreman.  He also improves his lifetime professional record to 52-5-2.

In thinking about it, Bernard has seen a lot of fighting and only he truly knows where this will lead him.  As an elite athlete he has long viewed his body as a temple and in “walking the walk” so to speak has eschewed the pitfalls of life outside of the ring in favor of an ethos of right living. Still, Bernard was rocked more than once last night by Pascal’s powerful rights and lefts, and the cumulative weight of a lot of punches over the years can humble even the greatest of fighters. Hopkins has spent his career avoiding getting tagged, however, in his fights with Pascal, he has had to adjust to the quicker hand speed of the younger fighter by putting more of himself into the game. That makes it particularly exciting for those of us who love a great fight, but it is for Bernard to know and for us to say amen, when he hangs up the gloves for good as Bernard says, when he is “about 50.”

Recent press about women’s boxing

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Recent press about women’s boxing

Here’s five recent press pieces related to women’s boxing that might be worth taking a look:

1.  Winning Starts Before the Fight:

Seattle based 2012 Olympic hopeful Queen Underwood who recently won two title fights at the first Women’s International Dual Series held in Oxnard, California is profiled in this piece.  The article was written by Alan Abrahamson and is published on Team USA’s boxing site here.

2. At 63, It’s Time for a Career Move:

A terrific article about personal trainer Lada St. Edmund, who started boxing in her 50’s and is now getting ready to take her exams to become a boxing referee. The piece was written by Brian Heyman for the New York Times and can be viewed here.

3.  My life in Sport: Daniella Smith:

The New Zealand Herald has an article by Dana Johannsen about New Zealand’s boxing champion Daniella Smith who recently won a ten-round fight in Berlin, Germany over Jennifer Retzke to gain the vacant IBF women’s welterweight title.  The mother of two began boxing 12 years ago and turned pro in 2005.  The article can be found here.

4.  Charity uses boxing to help girls build self confidence:

This piece in the LA Times written by Nate Jackson is about the organization KnockOuts for Girls (KO4G), a not for profit “boxing charity that specializes in training, fundraising and providing scholarships for underprivileged girls.”   The group recruits amateur and professional boxers as well as active models with an interest in the sweet science to help support the organization’s many programs.  The group’s website is here. The article can be found here.

5.  Big Cards Missing a Women’s Touch:

Over at Maxboxing.com, Ryan Maquinana has a written an article on the dearth of women fighters on big-name fight cards.  Referring to WBO super bantamweight champion, Ana Julatan, Maquinana makes note of the fact that her half-time visit on the court of a recent Golden State Warriors-New York Knicks game caused pandemonium in the stands.  His point is if she is such a crowd pleaser, how come Julatan and other terrific women fighters are nowhere to be found?  This piece is well worth reading and talking about. The link to the article is here.