Australian WBC featherweight interim champion Skye Nicolson will be preparing for her first world title in just two years following her professional debut. Danish former world champion Sarah Mahfoud will be her opponent, and undoubtedly prove to be Nicolson’s greatest challenge thus far as the two featherweights aim to win the vacant WBC title that Amanda Serrano had relinquished last year following a dispute with the WBC. The WBC featherweight title match will take place on April 6th at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will be a part of the Hitchinson-Lemos undercard.
Skye Nicolson (9-0, 1 KO’s) has seen a quick rise through the women’s featherweight division since debuting on March 5th in 2022, and lurked closer to a contending position when she captured the WBC interim featherweight title last September which she continued to defend just two months later in November to seal her credentials as a genuine world title challenger.
While her talent made up for her experience throughout her fringe boxing career, Nicolson will be tested to an extent she has never been before as she faces Sarah Mahfoud (14-1, 3 KO’s), a former world champion who seems to have all the credentials and ability to stop Nicolson’s ascent dead in its tracks.
With the women’s featherweight division known to be one of the few weight classes in the sport that lacks enough talent, Sarah Mahfoud has managed to set herself apart by long being known as the second-best featherweight behind Amanda Serrano; who defeated Mahfoud in 2022 to remain the best female featherweight in the history of the sport.
It will be against Mahfoud where Skye Nicolson can truly gauge whether she belongs, with Mahfoud representing the last hurdle she needs to pass before she can look ahead to face unified champion Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KO’ss) for an undisputed bout. With Mahfoud having already beaten most of what little top competition was present at featherweight, Nicolson will be outmatched when it comes to experience.
Further posing a threat will be Mahfoud’s boxing ability. While it had not been on fully display during her September 24th bout in 2022 against Amanda Serrano where she was clearly outclassed―which resulted in Serrano becoming undisputed, Mahfoud’s only loss came against Serrano, and she has more than proven herself to be the most prominent 126-lbser after Amanda Serrano.
However, Nicolson has the advantage of youth―being roughly six years younger at 28 than Mahfoud―and has the talent in spades to ensure she makes it past the tough and experienced veteran. Although Nicolson is not expected to have an easy match in the slightest, the goal of being world champion and the chance to become undisputed will be flickering in the back of her mind as she gears up to face Sarah Mahfoud.
