Skye Nicolson

Skye Brittany Nicolson (born 27 August 1995) is an Australian professional boxer. She is the reigning WBC featherweight world champion. As an amateur, she competed in the featherweight event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning the gold medal. Nicolson competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In her first bout in the women's Feather (54–57 kg) preliminaries she beat Im Ae-ji from Republic of Korea on points. She was beaten in the quarterfinals by Kariss Artingstall from Great Britain.

Early life

Nicolson was born at Logan Hospital in Meadowbrook, Queensland. Her father is Scottish-born Allan, originally from Glasgow, and her mother is English-born Pat from London. Nicolson grew up on the Gold Coast and attended Our Lady's College throughout her upbringing. She started boxing training at 12 years of age in the Gold Coast suburb of Yatala at the Jamie Nicolson Memorial Gym, which is named after her late brother. Her brothers, Jamie and Gavin, were killed in a car crash a year before she was born. Jamie was one of the greatest amateur boxers in Australian history who competed at the 1992 Olympic Games and won a bronze medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Amateur career

In 2016, Nicolson won bronze at the World Championships in the Welterweight division. She missed out on the Rio 2016 Olympics and moved down 4 weight classes to the featherweight division. She then competed at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and won gold. Nicolson defeated Michaela Walsh from Northern Ireland in the final bout in a split decision and walked away with the victory in her home city of the Gold Coast.

The Queensland athlete claimed her spot on the Tokyo 2020 Australian Olympic Team at the 2020 Asia and Oceana Qualification event held in Amman, Jordan after defeating Mongolia's Bolortuul Tumurkhuyag.

Nicolson reached the quarter-final of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before suffering a 3–2 defeat to Great Britain’s Karriss Artingstall. She retired from amateur competition with a record of 107–32.

Professional career

Nicolson made her professional debut on 3 March 2022 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in San Diego, USA against the American fighter Jessica Juarez. Nicolson was victorious, winning the bout with a unanimous decision.

On October 15, 2022, Nicolson defeated Krystina Jacobs by unanimous decision to win her first pro belt, inaugural Commonwealth female featherweight championship in Brisbane, Australia. The outing was her first pro fight on home soil.

On February 4, 2023, Nicolson defeated Tania Alvarez by unanimous decision to win WBC female Silver featherweight championship in New York, NY.

On September 15, 2023, Nicolson challenged Sabrina Maribel Perez for the interim WBC featherweight championship at Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutierrez Moreno in Tijuana, Mexico. She won the fight by unanimous decision.

On November 25, 2023 at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, Nicolson retained her interim WBC featherweight championship via ninth-round TKO against Lucy Wildheart.

In January 2024 it was announced that Nicolson would face Sarah Mahfoud for the vacant WBC women's featherweight title in Australia. Early March 2024, the fight was scheduled for April 6, 2024 in Las Vegas. Nicolson defeated Mahfoud via unanimous decision (100-90, 100-90, 99-91) and took the vacant title.

Nicolson made the first defense of her WBC featherweight title against Dyana Vargas at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, winning the fight by unanimous decision with all three ringside judges scoring the contest 100-90.

Nicolson made the second defense of her title against the previously unbeaten Raven Chapman at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 12 October 2024, in what was the first women's world title boxing fight held in Saudi Arabia and the first women’s bout to feature on a Riyadh Season show. She won the fight by unanimous decision, with scorecards of 98-92 and 99-91.

Professional boxing record