Alycia Baumgardner just keeps winning. At 18-1 with seven knockouts, she has not lost a fight in nearly eight years. Her streak continued last Friday night at Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden as Baumgardner, from Fremont, Ohio, retained her WBA, WBO, and IBF super featherweight championships with a 98-92, 99-91, 98-91 win over South Korean Bo Mi Re Shin (19-4-3, 10 KOs).
“When we talk about legacy, and we talk about development, these are the types of fights that I need to be in,” said Baumgardner after her victory. “These are the type of fights that really put my skills to the test and my mentality and my mental. Physically, I have it, but mentally, it’s another threshold to overcome.”
Baumgardner, who will turn 32 next month and whose last defeat was to Christina Linardatou in July 2018, is now targeting a potential superfight against undisputed light welterweight champion Katie Taylor.
“I think when we talk about a Katie Taylor, we talk about someone who is just as skilled,” she commented. “I believe in my abilities, and I’m sure she believes in hers. But when we talk about high-level boxing, when it comes to women, she’s a perfect person to be in the ring with.”
In the co-main event, Lani Daniels (12-4-2, 2 KOs) became a three-division world champion with a ninth-round TKO over Paterson, New Jersey’s Shadasia Green (16-2, 11 KOs) to win the IBF, WBO, and Ring super middleweight titles.
In a reminder of the dangers of boxing, both women skipped the post-fight press conference, and Green released a statement on social media from the hospital earlier this week.
“With everything in me, I wanna thank those who had great concern and even the people who figured out during the fight something was wrong,” Green posted on Instagram. “I passed out due to bleeding out of my brain. However, I am in ICU on the road to healing.” Despite her condition, Green proclaimed, “I’ll be back to get what’s mine…”
Uniondale, New York, native and former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will take on Youssef Zala on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Dominican UFC star Waldo Cortes-Acosta, a former minor league pitcher from 2010 to 2012 with the Dominican Summer League Reds (an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds), who defeated MMA legend Derrick Lewis earlier this year, is scheduled to battle Alexander Volkov in the co-main event at UFC 328 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday, May 9.
In a highly anticipated boxing card, Puerto Rican WBO and WBA junior middleweight champion Xander Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) will take on Jaron Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) on June 27 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“It’s always been about legacy. Becoming the youngest world champion at 22 when I did it. Youngest unified world champion,” Zayas, now 23, said at a press conference earlier this month in Brooklyn. “Anybody could have taken the easy route and just get an easy win, and that’s it. I want to fight the best.”
Ennis, who predicted he would win by knockout, said he’s prepared for the moment. “Come fight night, he’ll see. I’m going to show everyone that I’m the best in the world.”