WBC mandatory challenger Tiara Brown pulled off an almighty upset to topple featherweight star Skye Nicolson with a stunning split decision victory.
The pair collided at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, with Brown, 19-0 (11 KOs), seizing her green and gold strap on away soil.
While many will argue that it was a razor-thin contest, it always seemed that Nicolson, 12-1 (1 KO), had her nose in front, but with two judges scoring it 96-94 and 97-93 in her opponent’s favour, she was ultimately forced to suffer her first professional defeat.
The opening two rounds saw Nicolson stick and move behind her southpaw jab, never presenting her more aggressive opponent with an opening.
While Brown continued to march forward, landing very few meaningful shots, it swiftly became clear that her footwork was no match for the Australian’s.
Sure enough, the home fighter had almost established her control by the fourth round, not only outboxing but, by that point, befuddling the American with her technical prowess.
Momentarily, Nicolson opted to duke it out with Brown in the fifth round but, knowing exactly where her strengths lie, returned to her fluid boxing before long.
Despite an encouraging seventh frame, which saw her land several clean shots at mid-range, the challenger was ultimately unable to slow the feet of Nicolson, who remained defensively responsible through 10 rounds.
A few pockets of success for Brown then arrived in the final moments of their encounter, and while one judge scored it 96-94 for her opponent, it was the 36-year-old who secured a career-best victory.
In her post-fight interview, she kept it simple and said: “Right now, I just want to go home and eat some cupcakes and cookies and watch some cartoons.”
