The Curious Case of Alycia Baumgardner

The Curious Case of Alycia Baumgardner

Alycia Baumgardner is undoubtedly a top-ten pound-for-pound fighter. Baumgardner is unquestionably the best fighter in her division. She is head and shoulders above every other fighter in the super-featherweight ranks. In truth, nobody comes close to her. Baumgardner might now not hold all the belts at 130, but she is still, in reality, the undisputed champion at her weight. There lies the problem. Baumgardner has cleaned out her division. There are no challenges left for her. She needs to move on. And up.

In her latest defence of her WBA, WBO, and IBF world super-featherweight titles, Baumgardner won wide and unanimously on the cards on Friday night at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York. There were few surprises when Baumgardner won by margins of 98-92, 98-92, and 99-91. Bo Mi Re Shin was tough, gave Baumgardner some uncomfortable moments, but ultimately, those moments were nowhere near enough to threaten the upset.

It was another somewhat routine defence for Baumgardner. The pre-fight odds of 1/16 for the unified champion to retain her 130-pound baubles offered little jeopardy. Victory was almost guaranteed. A mere formality. Baumgardner now needs to fight someone where victory isn’t guaranteed. But will she?

Post-fight, Baumgardner repeated her desire to fight Katie Taylor or Amanda Serrano. Maybe they are realistic options, but from the outside, they would appear to be anything but. Baumgardner will almost certainly have to look elsewhere for the bigger fights. Fights where there is some semblance of a threat to her. We know Alycia Baumgardner is the best fighter in her weight category. She now needs to look elsewhere. Baumgardner can’t just be a big fish in a little pond. Enough is enough.

Caroline Dubois is the obvious next opponent. Dubois should be next. But she won’t be next. Baumgardner at the post-fight press conference yet again dismissed the idea of sharing a ring with the unified world lightweight champion anytime soon.

“When we talk about Alicia Baumgardner and her career and her trajectory on where she is going, we have to align her with the biggest fights,” Baumgardner said. “I’m at a stage where I’m at the biggest fights. Dubois is a great fighter. Yes, but she’s nowhere near where I am.” But where will those big fights come from when she seems so reluctant to take them? If she gets Taylor or Serranno, then fair enough. But the odds strongly suggest that she won’t.

The talk that Dubois is potentially two years away from fighting Baumgardner is frankly absurd. If, as seems likely, Taylor or Serrano don’t answer the call, who else will Baumgardner fight? Are we looking at two more years of what we have seen of late from Baumgardner? Fighting opponents who are nowhere near her level. Fights where there is no drama. No jeopardy. No threat to her.

Baumgardner might find reasons not to fight Dubois, some would say excuses, but it looks on the surface that she just doesn’t fancy it. When Dubois offers Baumgardner the chance to become a two-weight world champion, why wouldn’t she fight her? In simple terms, it’s the biggest fight available to her right now. Dubois wants it. It appears that for whatever reason, Baumgardner doesn’t.

We have been here before with Baumgardner. When she controversially defeated her great rival Mikaela Mayer in 2022, Baumgardner walked away from a rematch. They had a red-hot rivalry. Probably the hottest rivalry we have ever seen in women’s boxing. It seemed like an absolute no-brainer to run it back. There was money, and plenty of it, left on the table. In many ways, unfinished business. Mayer wanted it; she still does, but Baumgardner didn’t. Why? The rematch made business sense. To avoid it makes no sense. Why leave that money on the table?

While Baumgardner did go undisputed at 130, her opponents haven’t really inspired over the last three years. Mayer has moved up the weights and rolled the dice. And more than once. Natasha Jonas, Sandy Ryan, and Mary Spencer have all been in the opposite corner to Mayer. Fights that have elevated her standing in the sport. Mayer will now likely fight Chantelle Cameron next. Cameron is a former undisputed world super-lightweight champion. The only fighter to defeat Katie Taylor. Another roll of the dice for Mayer. Another legacy fight.

Mayer is now a three-division world champion and is arguably a top-three pound-for-pound fighter. Despite that defeat to Baumgardner, Mayer has now surpassed her old rival. And by some distance. While Baumgardner has stood still. Mayer has moved forward. And significantly so.

Alycia Baumgardner has a decision to make. Is she happy just to fight opponents who are not on her level, or does she want to take fights that will enhance her legacy? Caroline Dubois is there, ready and waiting for her. Despite her protests, Dubois is a real threat to her. I think deep down, Baumgardner knows that also. Mikaela Mayer still wants that rematch and is prepared to come down to 140 to get that fight. Dubois and Mayer, like Baumgardner, are signed to Most Valuable Promotions. They should be easy fights to make. It would appear that only one person is preventing those fights from happening.

Photo Credit: Most Valuable Promotions