Ivana Habazin landed a home game in a bid to become a two-time titlist and create history in the process.
A location has been secured for Habazin’s challenge of Jessica McCaskill’s lineal, WBC and WBA welterweight championship class. The WBC-ordered mandatory title fight will take place April 20 at KC Drazen Petrovic, named after the late, great NBA star, in Zagreb, Croatia.
“It’s official! I will be fighting Jessica McCaskill on April 20 in Croatia for the unified female welterweight championship,” Habazin stated on Monday.” I am honored to be the first professional boxer male [or] female in history of Croatia to bring home this historical event. God is great”
Habazin’s promoter, Piranha Promotions, won the rights to the title fighter through a December 1 purse bid hearing. Piranha—headed by Charles Muniz, Habazin’s longtime manager—submitted $82,500 as the lone bidder.
From that total, ten percent ($8,250) will be held in escrow as a win bonus. McCaskill is due 70 percent from the balance ($51,975) as the defending champion. Habazin is guaranteed the remaining 30 percent ($22,275) as per the standard for a WBC mandatory challenger.
McCaskill (12-3-1, 5KOs) will now have to decide if it’s worth traveling that far to defend her championship for a modest five-figure payday. The two-division champ and former undisputed welterweight queen was already relieved of the IBF and WBO titles after she lost to Chantelle Cameron in their November 2022 clash for the fully unified junior welterweight championship.
Habazin (21-5, 7KOs) punched her way into contention after a ten-round win over Diana Prazak in their October 2022 title eliminator in Zabok, Croatia. She has since lost a ten-round, unanimous decision in a last-minute opportunity to challenge for Terri Harper’s WBA junior middleweight title. Habazin was permitted to retain her WBC welterweight ranking and returned to the weight for a six-roiund shutout of Timea Belik last September 29 in Hollywood, Florida.
McCaskill has won titles at junior welterweight and welterweight, the latter where she claimed the undisputed championship in an August 2020 win over then-unbeaten and undisputed welterweight queen Cecilia Braekhus. She repeated the feat in their March 2021 rematch and then made two more successful title defenses, both ending in stoppage victories.
They preceded a failed bid to win the undisputed junior welterweight championship in a ten-round decision defeat to Chantelle Cameron last November 5 in Abu Dhabi.
McCaskill attempted to reclaim her WBO belt, which was won by Sandy Ryan in a ten-round decision over Marie Pier Houle last April 22 in Cardiff, Wales. The two met on September 24 and fought to a ten-round, split decision draw though most felt Ryan deserved the nod in their DAZN-aired bout from Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
An effort to schedule a McCaskill-Ryan rematch was trumped by the WBC, who insisted McCaskill had to next face Habazin in an overdue mandatory title defense. The sanctioning body noted that the winner would be immediately approved to next face Ryan (6-1-1, 2KOs).
McCaskill-Habazin was put back into play months after Piranha defaulted on a prior purse bid hearing. The South Florida-based company won a bid for this same fight on February 7, when it submitted $201,000 to outpace Matchroom Boxing ($91,000) as the session’s only other participant. The fight never materialized, however, even after Piranha defaulted on its bid and the fight wound up in possession of Matchroom.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox