BY ERIC RASKIN
July 13, 2024
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
PHILADELPHIA – Skye Nicolson isn’t the answer for boxing fans seeking ultra-violence. But she can dish out basic lessons in the sweet science in two-minute doses with great proficiency, as she demonstrated against one-dimensional plodder Dyana Vargas in defense of a women’s featherweight title at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.
Nicolson, a 2020 Olympian from Australia, won all 10 rounds on all three scorecards, frequently frustrating her challenger with her movement and accurate pot-shotting. The southpaw Nicolson was in control from the outset with footwork, feinting and her right jab, and though “La Maquina” Vargas offered aggression, it was rarely effective.
Nicolson enjoyed her best round – and the fans enjoyed the closest thing to hard-hitting action – in the fifth, when she landed a flush left to the jaw that forced Vargas to nod in acknowledgement. But Nicolson, with just one professional KO to her name, isn’t much of a puncher, and Vargas didn’t appear particularly hurt.
Monotony set in after that – “More of the same, 10-9 Nicolson” being the extent of this ringside reporter’s notes in each of the next three rounds.
Vargas (18-2, 12 KOs) appeared downright angry the last two rounds with the manner in which Nicolson was outboxing her, but she also had herself to blame for a strategy of aimlessly plowing forward and remaining predictable and easy to pick off.
“I loved the atmosphere, I had a lot of fun in there,” Nicolson (11-0, 1 KO) said afterward. “I’m improving every single camp, every single fight.”
DAZN’s Chris Mannix pointed out to Nicolson that Amanda Serrano possesses all the other alphabet belts in her division and is otherwise occupied at the moment. (Serrano fights next Saturday and is scheduled for a rematch with Katie Taylor in November.) Nicolson noted that she has “absolutely no interest” in pursuing Serrano – which is probably the appropriate level of interest if Nicolson wants to remain undefeated a little while longer.
In a scheduled 10-round light heavyweight fight, “Big Steppa” Khalil Coe stepped all over Kwame Ritter, scoring a TKO in just under five minutes of action. Coe (9-0-1, 7 KOs) shook Ritter (11-2, 9 KOs) with a right hand early in the second round and dropped him on his rear with a follow-up left hook. Ritter got up at referee Ricky Gonzalez’s count of 8, but Coe quickly pounced, wobbling him against the ropes several times until Gonzalez called a halt at 1:59 of the round, awarding Coe his fifth consecutive KO win.
“We gonna keep working, we gonna keep stepping,” Coe said, proceeding to call out undefeated British 175-pounder Joshua Buatsi.
Former featherweight title challenger Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz (29-4, 19 KOs) made quick work of Derlyn “El Coyote” Hernandez (12-2-1, 10 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round junior lightweight bout. The end came at 2:36 of the second round after a series of flush left hooks rocked Hernandez along the ropes. Another clean shot sent his mouthpiece flying, and soon referee Ricky Gonzalez stepped in with Hernandez still on his feet.
To the delight of a supportive, early-arriving local crowd, Philly featherweight Christian Carto (23-1, 16 KOs) dominated journeyman Carlos Buitrago (38-14-1, 22 KOs) over the three rounds the fight lasted, including scoring a flash knockdown in the third when Buitrago’s glove touched the canvas. Buitrago’s corner halted the bout before the fourth round could begin.
Undefeated Ismail “The Chef” Muhammad nearly got cooked in the opening round of a six-rounder, hitting the canvas hard from a right hand – in combination, it appeared, with a clash of heads – at the outset of his junior welterweight bout with Frank “Bloodhound” Brown (3-5-2, 1 KO). But Muhammad, a Philadelphia southpaw, shook it off, scoring a knockdown of his own in the fourth with a left-right combo, staggering Brown with a left hand late in the sixth and earning a unanimous decision by scores of 57-55 and 58-54 twice to improve to 5-0 (4 KOs).
Philadelphia bantamweight Dennis Thompson opened the card by hammering out a unanimous four-round decision win over Argentina’s game Fernando Valdez (1-8) in his pro debut. In a fast-paced scrap, Thompson used a steady body attack to slow Valdez, stunned him with a left hook in the fourth, but couldn’t take Valdez off his feet and settled for hearing triple scores of 40-36.
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