Australia’s Skye Nicolson overcame a difficult opening two rounds to keep her unbeaten record and her WBC featherweight title via unanimous decision over Britain’s Raven Chapman. The contest, the first women’s title fight to be staged in Saudi Arabia, was on the undercard of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol light-heavyweight unification fight at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena.
Chapman (9-1, 2 KOs) began brightly, using fast footwork and upper-body movement to cut off the ring and seek to apply pressure and put Nicolson on the back foot. A short right hand from Chapman found its mark in the second, but already it was becoming clear that the Brit was using a lot of energy to work herself into a strong position without then throwing enough punches to press her advantage.
By round three Nicolson (12-0, 1 KO) was beginning to gain her timing and distance, moving away from danger before Chapman could uncork a shot and seeking to time her with counters from mid-range.
By the fifth, Nicolson, 29, was starting to look comfortable, easing into a rhythm and landing effortlessly off the back foot. Seemingly discouraged by Nicolson increasingly controlling the action at mid-range, Chapman began reaching with her punches from distance, giving the Australian further opportunity to land crisp blows and circle away.
The 30-year-old Chapman was showing plenty of movement, but much of it was in straight lines, allowing Nicolson to consistently slide into a comfortable position, and with far too little end result. She broke through with some right hands in the ninth but Nicolson repeatedly responded with southpaw lefts of her own; and the 10th featured Nicolson in cruise control, picking off the onrushing Chapman down the stretch.
The end result was a formality. The ringside judges returned scores in the Australian’s favor of 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92.
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