Skye Brittany Nicolson (born 27 August 1995) is an Australian

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. She is a former WBC

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

world champion. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, she competed in the featherweight event at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, winning the gold medal. Nicolson competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. In her first bout in the women's Feather (54–57 kg) preliminaries she beat Im Ae-ji from the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

on points. She was beaten in the quarterfinals by Kariss Artingstall of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Early life

Nicolson was born at

Logan Hospital Logan Hospital is a major public hospital and healthcare centre servicing the Logan City, Logan region in the state of Queensland, located at the corner of Armstrong and Loganlea Roads in Meadowbrook, Queensland, Meadowbrook, Queensland, Austr ...

Meadowbrook, Queensland Meadowbrook is a mixed-use Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. The Logan Hospital and a TAFE college are located in the suburb. In the , Meadowbrook had a population of 3,069 people. Geogra ...

. Her father is Scottish-born Allan, originally from

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and her mother is English-born Pat from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Nicolson grew up on the Gold Coast and attended Our Lady's College throughout her upbringing. She started boxing training at 12 years of age in the Gold Coast suburb of Yatala at the Jamie Nicolson Memorial Gym, which is named after her late brother. Notable students she grew up training alongside in the same Yatala gym include future world champions

Cherneka Johnson Cherneka Johnson (born 3 March 1995) is a New Zealand Māori professional boxer. Born in New Zealand, she represents Australia in international competition. She has been undisputed female bantamweight champion since July 2025 and previously hel ...

and Che Kenneally. Her brothers,

Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. Traditionally a masculine name, it can be diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names and is of Scottish English origin. It is also given as a name in its own right. Since the mid-20th century it has been used a ...

and Gavin, were killed in a car crash a year before she was born. Jamie was one of the greatest amateur boxers in Australian history who competed at the 1992 Olympic Games and won a bronze medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Amateur career

In 2016, Nicolson won bronze at the World Championships in the Welterweight division. She missed out on the

Rio 2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

and moved down 4 weight classes to the featherweight division. She then competed at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and won gold. Nicolson defeated Michaela Walsh from Northern Ireland in the final bout in a split decision and walked away with the victory in her home city of the Gold Coast. The Queensland athlete claimed her spot on the Tokyo 2020 Australian Olympic Team at the 2020 Asia and Oceana Qualification event held in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, Jordan after defeating Mongolia's Bolortuul Tumurkhuyag. Nicolson reached the quarter-final of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before suffering a 3–2 defeat to Great Britain’s Karriss Artingstall. She retired from amateur competition with a record of 107–32.

Professional career

Nicolson made her professional debut on 3 March 2022 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in San Diego, USA against the American fighter Jessica Juarez. Nicolson was victorious, winning the bout with a unanimous decision. On October 15, 2022, Nicolson defeated Krystina Jacobs by unanimous decision to win her first pro belt, inaugural Commonwealth female featherweight championship in Brisbane, Australia. The outing was her first pro fight on home soil. On February 4, 2023, Nicolson defeated Tania Alvarez by unanimous decision to win WBC female Silver featherweight championship in New York, NY. On September 15, 2023, Nicolson challenged Sabrina Maribel Perez for the interim WBC featherweight championship at Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutierrez Moreno in Tijuana, Mexico. She won the fight by unanimous decision. On November 25, 2023 at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, Nicolson retained her interim WBC featherweight championship via ninth-round TKO against Lucy Wildheart.

WBC women's featherweight champion

Nicolson vs. Mahfoud

In January 2024 it was announced that Nicolson would face

Sarah Mahfoud Sarah Mahfoud (born 29 September 1989) is a Faroese-born Danish professional boxer who won the IBF female featherweight title in July 2020. She subsequently lost to Amanda Serrano in a title unification bout in Manchester on 24 September 2022. A ...

for the vacant WBC women's featherweight title in Australia. Early March 2024, the fight was scheduled for April 6, 2024 in Las Vegas. Nicolson defeated Mahfoud via unanimous decision (100-90, 100-90, 99-91) and took the vacant title.

Nicolson vs. Vargas

Nicolson made the first defense of her WBC featherweight title against Dyana Vargas at

Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center may refer to: * Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles), California * Wells Fargo Center (Sacramento), California * Wells Fargo Center (San Francisco), California * Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California * Wells Fargo C ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, winning the fight by unanimous decision with all three ringside judges scoring the contest 100-90.

Nicolson vs. Chapman

Nicolson made the second defense of her title against the previously unbeaten

Raven Chapman Raven Chapman (born 1 January 1994) is an English professional boxer. She has held the WBC female featherweight International title and also challenged for the WBC female featherweight World title. Career After an amateur career which included w ...

Kingdom Arena Kingdom Arena (), formerly known as Boulevard Hall () during construction, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Hittin neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The stadium seats roughly 27,000 spectators in its football configuration. History ...

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, Saudi Arabia, on 12 October 2024, in what was the first women's world title boxing fight held in Saudi Arabia and the first women’s bout to feature on a

Riyadh Season Riyadh Season () is a series of entertainment, cultural, and sporting events held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The event was introduced in 2019 by the General Entertainment Authority as part of the larger Saudi Seasons initiative in s ...

show. She won the fight by unanimous decision, with scorecards of 98-92 and 99-91.

Nicolson vs. Brown

Nicolson made the third defense of her WBC featherweight title against

Tiara Brown Tiara Brown (born 1 June 1988) is an American professional boxer. She has held the WBC female featherweight title since 22 March 2025. Career A gold medalist at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, Brown had won her first 18 profes ...

in Sydney, Australia on 22 March 2025. She lost by split decision.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Skye Nicolson - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolson, Skye 1995 births Living people Australian women boxers Boxers from the Gold Coast, Queensland Southpaw boxers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Boxers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Australia AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships medalists Commonwealth Boxing Council champions World Boxing Council champions World featherweight boxing champions 21st-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing