Skye Nicolson-Raven Chapman WBC Title Fight Lands On Oct. 12 Riyadh Season Card
Skye Nicolson and Raven Chapman will break new ground in the Middle East.
The first women’s bout to grace a Riyadh Season show is now in place. Australia’s Nicolson is set for a dangerous mandatory defense of her WBC featherweight title versus England’s Chapman. The scheduled ten-round contest is set for Oct. 12, on the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undercard at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
News of the fight was revealed by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the country’s General Entertainment Authority. The event is part of the ongoing Riyadh Season boxing series, which debuted last Oct. 28.
Six shows have taken place thus far, including its Aug. 3 U.S. debut. The UK launch begins Sept. 21, headlined by the Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua IBF heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium in London.
It’s been nothing but hard legs among more than 60 bouts to grace those seven cards, pending additional bouts on the Sept. 21 show. Nicolson-Chapman is the only women’s boxing match among the revealed eight-fight lineup for Oct. 12.
Still, it’s a groundbreaking moment that warrants recognition and in a terrific matchup. Nicolson (11-0, 1 knockout), 28, is The Ring’s No. 1-rated featherweight. Chapman (9-0, 2 KOs), 30, is No. 5.
The pairing was in discussion dating back to when both were still rising contenders. Nicolson—a Yatala, Australia native who trains in England—upped the ante first when she claimed the interim WBC featherweight title.
The 2020 Olympic quarterfinalist outpointed Sabrina Maribel Perez over ten rounds last Sept. 15 in Tijuana, Mexico. One successful defense followed before the opportunity arose to challenge for the full version of the belt vacated by RING/unified champ Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KOs).
Nicolson pitched a ten-round virtual shutout over former IBF titleholder Sarah Mahfoud (14-2, 3 KOs) to upgrade her crown on April 6 in Las Vegas. The Aussie southpaw retained the title after winning all ten rounds versus Dyana Vargas (19-2, 12 KOs) on July 13 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Her terrific run has come through just two-plus years as a pro.
Chapman (9-0, 2 KOs) is also an early bloomer as she enters her first career title fight.
The gifted boxer from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK has drawn favorable reviews since her Sept. 2021 debut. A significant increase in competition came in just her fourth pro fight. Chapman outlasted former title challenger Jorgelina Guarini (10-5-2, 1 KO) on a Sept. 2022 show that saw Serrano defeat Mahfoud in their WBC/IBF/WBO unification bout.
The rise to title contention continued with credible wins over then-unbeaten Lila dos Santos Furtado and Yohana Salabia within the past twelve months.
Placement of this fight in Riyadh is a first—and hopefully not only—step towards the series’ organizers recognizing women in boxing. The nation’s gender equality laws have only recently evolved within the past few years but still have a long way to go.
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