Alycia Baumgardner vs Caroline Dubois within 18 months, predicts promoter

Nakisa Bidarian also names Baumgardner as the new figurehead of women's boxing, before she challenges unbeaten Elif Nur Turhan for the IBF lightweight title on Sunday.

A fight between Alycia Baumgardner and Caroline Dubois is inevitable and will happen in the next 12 to 18 months, according to promoter Nakisa Bidarian, who runs Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) with Jake Paul.

Dubois, the 25-year-old British fighter, has repeatedly called for the bout, and the pair traded words up close in August after she beat Amelia Moore. Baumgardner, 32, was ringside on commentary duties that night, and Dubois leant through the ropes to confront her.

Bidarian said both fighters have stated they want the fight and that MVP is willing to make it, but that all sides must be realistic about the opportunity. He pointed to round length as one difference between them: Baumgardner fights three-minute rounds, while Dubois has only fought two-minute rounds. He said he would want to try the longer rounds in Dubois's position, but that the decision is hers.

The promoter also said that all the belts are held within MVP, which gives one of its fighters a clear path to undisputed status. He added that there is no guarantee Baumgardner will get past Nur Turhan on Sunday.

Baumgardner, a former undisputed super-featherweight champion, has one defeat on her record, a split decision against Christina Linardatou in 2018. Nur Turhan and Dubois are both unbeaten. Of the IBF lightweight champion, Bidarian said: “And to Elif’s credit, she signed to MVP and said: ‘I want the biggest fights. Give me Alycia Baumgardner right now. Please, I want to fight with Alycia Baumgardner.’” Bidarian has labelled Baumgardner the new “face of women’s boxing”, with Katie Taylor having retired after a win at Dublin's Croke Park in September and Amanda Serrano set to follow in January in Puerto Rico.

He said that title would not mean replacing either woman, whose April 2022 fight he credited with showing him and Paul what was possible in the sport. Bidarian said: “I look at it as: Katie and Amanda are the queens of women’s boxing, and they will forever be the queens.”

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