Less than two months after Tiara Brown snatched her WBC featherweight crown in Sydney, Skye Nicolson has mapped out a new route to redemption: a drop to super-bantamweight. The 29-year-old Australian southpaw says her summer return will be contracted at “123 or 124 lbs” as a dress rehearsal for a full move to the 122-lb division. “It’s a new challenge, a new weight,” Nicolson told Matchroom Boxing. “Something to set my mind on.”
Nicolson’s first professional defeat cost her both title and unbeaten record, halting a 12-0 run that included two defences of the belt she won from Sarah Mahfoud in April 2024. Post-fight soul-searching convinced the slick counter-puncher that shaving four pounds, rather than stacking on more muscle, could sharpen her speed advantage and open doors to an even busier championship landscape at 122.
Watch Nicolson vs. Mahfoud full fight: Watch
The timing is shrewd. July 11 in London brings an IBF/WBO-WBC unification between Ellie Scotney and Yamileth Mercado; WBA queen Mayeli Flores lurks, fresh off dethroning Nazarena Romero.
Dropping down is not without risk: Nicolson has made feather comfortably since her 2022 debut, and cutting extra weight can sap the legs that underpin her elusive style. But history shows that boxers often find renewed impetus after a first setback, and Nicolson views 122 as a psychological reset as much as a physical tweak. “It’s almost like starting 0-0 again,” she said. “Now I get to prove everything one more time.”
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