Baumgardner: Dubois Must Prove Herself Before a Potential Fight

Alycia Baumgardner believes Caroline Dubois needs to demonstrate her capabilities further before she considers a match against the unified lightweight world champion. Baumgardner is set to defend her unified WBA, WBO, and IBF super-featherweight world titles against Bo Mi Re Shin, airing live on Sky Sports on Saturday. Following her recent victory over Terri Harper for the WBC and WBO lightweight world championship, Dubois expressed interest in facing Baumgardner. However, Baumgardner suggests that Dubois should focus on building her reputation as a champion, particularly by becoming undisputed at 135lbs, before calling her out for a high-profile fight. Baumgardner stated, 'She needs to put some more skin in the game... I've shown plenty of times that I put on great shows and I became undisputed.' Meanwhile, Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Most Valuable Promoters, thinks Dubois should prioritize cleaning up her division before pursuing a fight with Baumgardner. Bidarian proposed that Dubois could face Stephanie Han, who is set to fight Holly Holm on May 30 for the WBA lightweight title. Baumgardner could also become the undisputed champion at super-featherweight again, with WBC belt-holder Caroline Veyre expressing interest in a potential match. Dmitriy Salita, Veyre's promoter, said, 'We're absolutely open to it and would like to move quickly to make the fight happen.' Bidarian's company, Most Valuable Promotions, aims to establish the deepest roster of talent in women's boxing, with over 45 fighters and 16 world champions. The company's goal is to become the reference brand for women's boxing, with a focus on supporting female athletes. This weekend, Baumgardner's fight against Shin will be followed by a WBO and IBF super-middleweight title unification match between Shadasia Green and Lani Daniels, which could potentially lead to a showdown between Green and undisputed heavyweight champion Claressa Shields.