Kaye Scott: “At this stage of my career, it’s about making some money and getting the opportunity to win more belts.”

Kaye Scott: “At this stage of my career, it’s about making some money and getting the opportunity to win more belts.”

It was definitely third time lucky for Kaye Scott on Saturday night in Detroit. At the third time of asking, the Australian can finally call herself a world champion. The 41-year-old defeated the American Olivia Curry in their rematch, a victory that earned Scott the vacant WBC and WBA world middleweight titles. In many ways, it’s been a long time coming for Scott. But it’s a moment that has definitely been coming.

“One loss, one draw, and one win,” Scott told FightPost the day after her victory over Curry. “The trilogy got it right! Getting my hand raised meant the world to me! I feel like it’s an accumulation of my dedication to the sport for such a long time. I think some people who see my pro record (and who don’t know my amateur history) think that it was a very quick and easy road. I’ve been in the sport for over 15 years, competing at a high level, dedicating my life to it. It’s been earned.”

After the controversial draw in September, a fight that many believed Scott had won beyond a reasonable doubt, the Australian removed all doubt in the rematch. “I’m happy that I was able to get a more dominant performance against Olivia in our second fight,” Scott relayed to me. “She’s a tough competitor who uses her forward pressure to eventually break down and tire out her opponents. I did expect her to push a bit more of the inside work quicker. I felt she tried to box, at least for a short period, a bit more. I haven’t watched the fight back yet, but I definitely felt more dominant overall. Even when it was competitive work on the inside, I controlled the ring, pushed her back, and I often kept her on the ropes.”

After what happened three months ago, Scott was a little nervous as she waited for the scores to be announced, but she was confident that this time she would have her hand raised.

“The team and I were very positive heading back to the centre ring for the scores to be announced,” Scott told me. “But there’s always an element of anxiety. We thought we’d come enough last fight, and that ended with a majority draw. I had a mini-heart attack when the first scorecard was identical to the first fight. I thought surely this can’t happen again. Thankfully, that judge clearly wasn’t watching properly because the other two scorecards were spot on with 98-92 and 97-93.”

Kaye Scott can now enjoy her Christmas and look forward to a prosperous 2026 and a busy year defending her WBC and WBA middleweight baubles. Scott has split two fights with her fellow Australian Desley Robinson, who now holds the IBF and WBO world middleweight titles; a trilogy fight with Robinson for undisputed status is an obvious option. But a possible fight with the unbeaten Canadian Tamm Thibeault was also mooted after her win over Curry.

Scott will leave the next move to her inner circle. “My team are in charge of what happens moving forward; I’ll do whatever move they think is best for me. The main discussion of names that came up was two MVP fighters, Desley Robinson and Tamm Thibeault. At this stage of my career, it’s about making some money and getting the opportunity to win more belts.”