A dismissive Alycia Baumgardner said Britain’s Caroline Dubois still has more to prove before the American will entertain a fight between the two unified champions.
That was the curt assessment from Baumgardner early Saturday morning after she retained her WBA, WBO and IBF junior lightweight world titles with a controlled, at times punishing display across 10 three-minute rounds against Bo Mi Re Shin in a main event that started well past midnight at Madison Square Garden.
“Like I said, I’m a piranha,” said Baumgardner, a world champion at 130lb since 2021. “That’s a guppy. Get her out of here.”
Dubois, the 25-year-old sister of British heavyweight contender Daniel Dubois, has exchanged barbs with Baumgardner in the weeks since defeating Terri Harper to consolidate the WBC and WBO belts at 135lb on Easter Sunday at Kensington Oval – a showing which Baumgardner shrugged off as as “a C-level performance”.
“The fight I’m interested in is Alycia Baumgardner,” Dubois said after outpointing Harper over 10 two-minute rounds. “That’s the fight I want by the end of the year. There’s no need to waste time. The best versus the best.”
Both Baumgardner and Dubois are signed to Most Valuable Promotions, the five-year-old outfit co-founded by boxer-influencer Jake Paul, which last month launched a bespoke women’s platform, MVPW, alongside a three-year media rights deal with ESPN aimed at giving female fighters a regular, high-visibility platform on linear television.
Dubois headlined the inaugural MVPW event in London, while Baumgardner topped the second card in New York. Each has benefitted from increased exposure under the MVP banner, not least coveted spots on the televised undercard of Paul’s fight with Anthony Joshua in December at Miami’s Kaseya Center, which attracted 33m viewers globally.
“I believe she’s already spoken to [MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian] and said: ‘I don’t want that fight,’” Dubois said. “People say she hits hard, I know I hit harder. It’s the most exciting fight in women’s boxing … and we need to make it happen by the end of this year.
“She is not about that life. She is not as gangster as she makes out to be.”
Dubois escalated the simmering feud on Sky Sports in the run-up to Baumgardner’s fight with Shin, predicting the 31-year-old Ohio native would struggle with the durable South Korean and suggesting the bout could expose vulnerabilities she believes are there.
She also called Baumgardner’s integrity into question over a positive test for a performance-enhancing drug after a 2023 fight, a ruling later overturned when an lengthy investigation found she didn’t intentionally use banned substances, saying her performances “haven’t looked the same” since.
Baumgardner, however, pointed elsewhere when discussing her next move, calling out Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, two of the sport’s biggest draws. Taylor, 39, has indicated she intends to retire later this year after one final bout in Dublin, with the 80,000-seat Croke Park her preferred stage, though plans are yet to be finalized.
“When we talk about Katie Taylor, we’re talking about someone very skilled,” Baumgardner said. “But when it comes to high-level women’s boxing, she’s the perfect opponent to show that separation.”
If that fight cannot be made, she said Serrano would be a natural alternative, particularly in New York.
“That makes sense, especially here,” Baumgardner said. “We can do it at the Garden. It doesn’t matter who’s tougher. Put me in there and I’ll show you.”
Pressed on a prospective bout with Dubois and why she bristles at the mounting public demand, Baumgardner made it clear she does not view the British southpaw as operating on her level.
“When you talk about my career and where I’m going, it has to align with the biggest fights,” she said. “I’m at that level now. Dubois is a great fighter, but she’s not where I am.
“This is a respect game. You don’t just get a fight by calling someone out. You have to put the work in. I’m a prizefighter, not a charity fighter.”
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