Skye Nicolson has landed a dream assignment while she awaits confirmation on a pursued career-defining fight.
The unbeaten Aussie boxer is confirmed to make her first defense of the interim WBC featherweight title versus Lucy Wildheart. The bout will appear on the undercard of the November 25 Chantelle Cameron- Katie Taylor rematch, which will air live on DAZN from 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
“I’m very excited to be apart of a prestigious night on the undercard of Chantelle Cameron and Katie Taylor,” Nicolson said of her placement on the high profile show. I feel this is a fight that fans will be excited about and I can’t wait to show the world that I am ready to takeover the featherweight division.”
Sweden’s Wildheart (10-2, 4KOs) enters off a loss to former unified junior lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer. Their April 15 lightweight clash was a last-minute opportunity for Wildheart, who replaced Christina Linardatou on barely one day’s notice.
The lone other defeat for the 30-year-old Swede—who lives and trains in the U.K.—was to 2020 Olympic Gold medalist Estelle Mossely in a June 2019 meeting at lightweight.
Nicolson (8-0, 0KOs)—a 2020 Olympic quarterfinalist for Australia—returns to the ring just two months after she claimed the interim WBC belt in a ten-round, unanimous decision over Argentina’s Sabrina Maribel Perez (18-2-1, 2KOs) on September 15 in Tijuana, Mexico.
The career-best win to date came without a victory lap, as Perez’s husband and trainer, Diego Arrua, suffered a heart attack prior to the final bell and passed away less than two hours later.
Nicolson took time for herself in the aftermath before she planned career opportunities both in and out of the ring. The 28-year-old southpaw from Yatala has worked the broadcast of DAZN ‘Before the Bell’ prelim shows both in the U.K.—where she trains—and the U.S.
It is now back to work inside the ring for Nicolson, who is a mandatory challenger in waiting for the full WBC featherweight title. That belt is currently held by the legendary, undisputed featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (45-2-1, 30KOs), who next faces interim WBO titlist Danila Ramos in a bout scheduled for 12 three-minute rounds atop an October 27 DAZN show from Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.
Rather than wait out the winner, Nicolson and her team sought placement on the undercard of another legendary figure. The bout will mark her second appearance on a show headlined by Bray, Ireland’s Taylor (22-1, 6KOs).
Nicolson scored a late knockdown in a six-round shutout win over Shanecqua Paisley Davis in supporting capacity to Taylor’s split decision win over Serrano last April 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Taylor retained her undisputed lightweight championship that night, which she still holds as she attempts to avenge her lone career defeat to Cameron (19-0, 8KOs), the reigning undisputed junior welterweight queen.
Serrano rebounded from that night to fully unify the featherweight division in just two fights. Nicolson’s mid-range goal is to land her own shot at Serrano, but will rack up as many wins and as much experience as possible until she is able to land that dream fight.
“Told you I wouldn’t be long,” Nicolson said upon public confirmation of the fight. “See you in Dublin.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox