Promoter Nakisa Bidarian called Alycia Baumgardner the new “face of women’s boxing,” following the recent retirement of Katie Taylor and the current one before Amanda Serrano.
Irish icon Taylor retired in September with a win in Dublin’s Croke Park, and his rival Serrano will follow in January – on his own in Puerto Rico.
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And as the sport prepares for a future without two legends, Baumgardner can fly the flag for women’s boxing, according to Bidarian’s Valuable Promotions (MVP).
“I look at it like this: Katie and Amanda are the queens of women’s boxing, and they will be queens forever,” Bidarian, who shared the MVP title with Jake Paul, said. Welcome.
“They changed the game for their first fight in April of 2022. They opened the eyes of me and Jake and the distributors to what was possible. They excited the fans and engaged them in a way that most fighters, male or female, never did.
“So, when your face doesn’t mean you’re going to accept it from Amanda or Katie, their legacy is cemented, and it’s not easy for anyone to reach their level. Because the two of them are so tango, right? Katie and Amanda made each other in many ways.
Nakisa Bidarian (center) watching the face-off between old rivals Katie Taylor (left) and Amanda Serrano (Getty)
“But when I look at Alycia Baumgardner, her skill set, her desire to be great, her willingness to make three-minute rounds, her desire to get the best of her opponents…”
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The American fighter is a former undisputed super-featherweight champion, and on Sunday he will challenge undefeated Elif Nur Turhan for the IBF lightweight title.
Bidarian explained: “You could go to 135lb. [lightweight] and he said, ‘MVP, please give me one or two fights to get my feet wet in this new division.’ By no means, he said: Bring it to me [WBC and WBO champion] Caroline Dubois, or Elif Nur Turhan bring me, or bring me [WBA champion] Stephanie Han.
“And to Elif’s credit, MVP signed on and said, ‘I want the biggest fights.’ Give me Alycia Baumgardner now. Please, I want to fight with Alycia Baumgardner”.
Baumgardner and his opponent Elif Nur Turhan (PA)
Baumgardner and Dubois made the announcement last August, after beating Briton Amelia Moore. Baumgardner was in the ring on recording duties, and Dubois was pulled through the ropes for verbal retraction.
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Dubois, 25, has called several times for a fight with Baumgardner, 32, and Bidarian said: “I think it’s necessary. I think the fight should happen in the next 12 to 18 months.
“We’d love to do it. Then the fighters said they want to do it. We just have to be logical and realistic about the opportunity and hope it’s done.”
“Alycia is a three-minute round fighter; Caroline has only fought two-minute rounds. If I were in Caroline’s shoes, I would try three-minute rounds, but that’s up to her.
“But the good news is: between Caroline, Stephanie and Elif, all the belts are within the MVP, so I see a clear path to undoubted. [for one of them]. And there is no guarantee that Alycia receives through Elif Nur Turhan.
Dubois wins those points Amelia Moore (Getty)
“If” [Baumgardner loses]certainly to look at Caroline himself and say: ‘I want the bingo itself’ [that Nur Turhan has].'”
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Dubois is undefeated as is Nur Turhan, while Baumgardner has one loss in her professional career: a split against Christina Linardatou in 2018. Baumgardner also recorded no contest in 2024, when a head injury robbed her of a fight with Delfine Persoon in the fourth round.
A major setback appears to have come in 2024, when Baumgardner tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended. However, two of the three American samples were negative, no wrongdoing was denied, and the WBC deemed it “not guilty of the ingestion or consumption of a prohibited substance for performance enhancement purposes.” His suspension was thus lifted.