Skye Nicolson has officially become a two-weight world champion after being awarded the vacant WBC super-bantamweight title overnight — although without the blockbuster fight she had been chasing.
Undisputed super bantamweight queen Ellie Scotney was ordered to defend her WBC belt against Nicolson, who held the interim title, but instead elected to vacate the championship.
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The decision cleared the way for Nicolson to be upgraded to full world champion status at 122 pounds.
In her outing at the end of April, Nicolson took care of business, dominating Mariah Turner by unanimous decision in Melbourne to retain her interim belt.
At that time, the Queenslander made it clear she wanted to make a megafight with Scotney for all the gold.
“Ellie Scotney, you’ve got all the belts,” Nicolson had said in her post-fight interview.
“I’m next in line. Let’s make it happen for the fans.”
She also spoke to Fox Sports Australia about her frustration of fighters avoiding her.
“It’s been the goal since I turned professional to become an undisputed champion,” she said
“I want to be a household name, and I feel like that’s the kind of accolade that’s going to get you there.
“I don’t want to fight for vacant titles. I want to fight the champions. I want to dethrone the champions. I want to prove I’m the best!
“I’ve found that side of professional boxing quite difficult to deal with, where people, if they don’t want to fight you, just won’t fight you.
“Mandatory positioning obviously helps, but it still doesn’t guarantee anything. As we saw when I was the mandatory for Amanda Serrano. It didn’t happen.”
Despite missing out on the undisputed showdown, Nicolson embraced the moment on social media after officially becoming a two-division world champion.
“Disappointed not to get my shot at undisputed but proud to be a world champion again,” Nicolson wrote.
“Two division champion sounds nice but there is still so much more to come!”
The upgrade now places Nicolson among an exclusive group of Australian fighters to win recognised world titles in multiple divisions.
Attention has already turned to Nicolson’s first defence, with former two-division world champion Miyo Yoshida emerging as the next challenger.
“I look forward to the challenge of Miyo Yoshida next and being part of some of the biggest fights in the sport,” Nicolson said.
Yoshida, a former super flyweight and bantamweight world champion, has won consecutive bouts since losing the IBF bantamweight title to Shurretta Metcalf in 2024.
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The Japanese veteran last fought in April, stopping Edith de Jesus Flores in six rounds.
Parts of this story appeared on DAZN News.