In a landmark night for the sport, four women's world title fights took centre stage on the undercard of the Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua event in Miami, with Britain's Caroline Dubois delivering a commanding performance to retain her championship on her highly anticipated US debut.
British Star Shines in American Spotlight
The 24-year-old Londoner, sister of heavyweight contender Daniel Dubois, put on a boxing clinic to successfully defend her WBC lightweight title against Italy's Camila Panatta. Fighting at the Kaseya Center on Friday night, Dubois (12-0-1, 5 KOs) controlled the contest from the outset, showcasing the skills that made her an Olympic prospect for Team GB in Tokyo.
Utilising steady pressure and pinpoint accuracy, Dubois wore down her opponent, scoring a knockdown with a sharp check right hook near the end of the sixth round. Panatta (8-3-1, 1 KO), a southpaw based in Florida, showed heart but was outclassed, with all three judges scoring the fight 99-90 in Dubois's favour. This marked a third successful defence for the champion, who was elevated to full world champion status last year.
A Quartet of Champions Retain Their Belts
Dubois was not the only champion to impress on a card streamed globally by Netflix. In the co-featured women's bout, American star Alycia Baumgardner (17-1, 7 KOs) put on a dominant display to defend her WBO, IBF and WBA junior lightweight titles against Canada's Leila Beaudoin.
Fighting under men's championship rules of 12 three-minute rounds, Baumgardner punished Beaudoin with relentless body shots and dropped her with a right hook at the bell ending the seventh. The judges' scores of 117-110 (twice) and 118-109 reflected her superiority, with Compubox statistics showing she outlanded her opponent 158 to 98.
Elsewhere, Australia's Cherneka Johnson (19-2, 8 KOs) retained her undisputed bantamweight championship with a unanimous decision over Amanda Galle, though the 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 scores were deemed wider than the competitive action suggested. The opening title fight saw Costa Rica's Yokasta Valle (34-3, 10 KOs) edge a bloody majority decision over Yadira Bustillos to keep her WBC strawweight title in a frenetic encounter that featured over 1,000 combined punches.
A New Platform for Women's Boxing
The event, promoted by Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions, provided unprecedented visibility for women's championship boxing on a single major promotion. While the main event between Paul and Joshua captured headlines, the undercard demonstrated a sustained investment in the women's side of the sport, often absent from boxing's biggest platforms.
This strategy of featuring elite female fighters prominently, previously seen on the historic Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano cards, continued at the 20,000-seat home of the NBA's Miami Heat. The global Netflix stream offered rare continuity, presenting all four women's world title bouts to a massive international audience and solidifying the event as a significant moment for the growth of women's boxing.
