Matchroom Boxing and Most Valuable Promotions have entered a long-term strategic alliance built specifically around women’s boxing, and they moved on the first signing within hours.
Skye Nicolson, the WBC super bantamweight champion, has joined MVP and becomes the first fighter to compete under the agreement. She defends her title against Miyo Yoshida over 10 rounds on Saturday, August 29 at bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham, England, on the MVPW-06 card headlined by Mikaela Mayer vs. Chantelle Cameron. Sky Sports carries it in the UK, ESPN+ in the United States.
Two Promoters Who Were Not Supposed To Get Along
Eddie Hearn acknowledged the obvious in Matchroom’s announcement.
“This is a partnership not many would have seen coming. But it is one that makes perfect sense,” Hearn said. “For a long time, Matchroom has singlehandedly carried the flag for women’s boxing. In recent years, MVP have done an incredible job too. They now have an unprecedented stable of Champions and continue to break the boundaries for women’s boxing time and time again.”
His argument for the deal is roster access. Champions on opposite sides of a promotional line spend years yelling at each other instead of fighting, and the alliance is designed to remove that obstacle.
“For our female fighters, like WBC World Champion Skye Nicolson, who fights Miyo Yoshida on August 29 in Birmingham, to chase legacy and to fight the best, this new alliance is integral,” Hearn said.
MVP co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian framed the Nicolson signing as a statement of intent. “Skye is one of the most recognizable athletes in women’s boxing today,” they said. “As a two-division world champion, Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Olympian, and one of Australia’s biggest stars, she represents the caliber of athlete we’re building MVP around.”
Where Nicolson Fits
Nicolson (16-1, 3 KOs) turned professional with Matchroom after the Tokyo Olympics and won a world title in only her 10th fight, beating Sarah Mahfoud for the WBC featherweight belt in 2024. She lost that title to Tiara Brown roughly a year later.
Three straight wins at 122 pounds followed. She held the interim WBC super bantamweight title and was elevated to full champion in May 2026 after Ellie Scotney vacated, making her a two-division WBC titleholder at 30.
She now joins an MVP roster that already includes fellow Australians Cherneka Johnson, Desley Robinson and Ebanie Bridges.
“Women’s boxing is entering a new era, and I want to be right at the centre of it,” Nicolson said. “This partnership with MVP and Matchroom gives me the opportunity to chase legacy, compete in the biggest fights out there, and help continue pushing women’s boxing forward.”
Unification at super bantamweight is the stated target. Yoshida (19-5, 1 KO) is a three-time champion across two divisions and now trains out of Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, so the first assignment under the new banner is not a soft one.
