Alycia Baumgardner took a moment to admire the surroundings of the venue that will house her first hometown headliner.
It comes in the form of revenge for the undisputed junior lightweight champion, who faces former two-time titleholder Christina Linardatou. Their rematch takes place this Saturday on DAZN from Masonic Temple in Baumgardner’s adopted Detroit hometown.
“I’ve worked a long time to get here. To get this undisputed, to avenge this loss,” Baumgardner stated during the most recent installment of Matchroom Boxing’s ‘In Camp With…’ YouTube series. “Hard work pays off, I’m gonna say that. It’s something I’m looking forward to.”
Greece’s Linardatou (14-2, 6KOs) earned a split decision in their July 2018 meeting. It a time when Baumgardner was an unbeaten prospect but also stuck in a horrible contract with Evander Holyfield’s now-defunct Real Deal Promotions, She since signed with Marshall Kauffman’s King Promotions and has won eight straight, the last four of which have come with Matchroom as her co-promoter and all with at least one title at stake.
Baumgardner (14-1, 7KOs) hit the road for a November 2021 fourth-round knockout of unbeaten WBC junior lightweight titlist Terri Harper in a breakthrough performance. Two fights later, she added the lineal, IBF and WBO titles with a ten-round decision win over unbeaten, unified champ Mikaela Mayer last October 15.
Hope of facing unbeaten WBA titlist Hyun Mi Choi for the undisputed championship came with a compromise. Baumgardner still challenged for the WBA belt, though versus Elhem Mekhaled afrer Choi was downgraded to ‘Champion in Recess’ for failure to defend. Baumgardner scored two knockdowns in a unanimous decision win to fully unify the division on February 4 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City.
The win marked Baumgardner’s first U.S. fight in 18 months, though plans were already in place for a Detroit homecoming.
Still, there was something missing. Her team took the step to fill that void by seeking out Linardatou as the opponent.
“It’s a book to me. I’m writing this book of who Alycia is. Winning this fight July 15 is like the close of that chapter,” stated Baumgardner. “I’ve never saw this fight since I fought this girl. I remember I was in the ring and her hand was raised. I was like ‘Damn, I got my first loss… but I’m not done.’ I got a loss but who cares?
“It was needed for growth. Growth is important. I want people to realize what it looks like. It’s ugly and it hurts. There’s light at the end of the tunnel and success there as well.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox