Baumgardner and Dubois win as women’s champions shine on Paul v Joshua undercard

Four women’s world title fights took place on the undercard of Friday night’s Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua event at Miami’s Kaseya Center, with Alycia Baumgardner, Caroline Dubois, Cherneka Johnson and Yokasta Valle all retaining their championships on a card that once again placed women’s boxing on one of the sport’s biggest global stages.

Related: Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua: heavyweight boxing – live buildup

Alycia Baumgardner (17-1, 7 KOs), one of the sport’s biggest stars, successfully defended her WBO, IBF and WBA junior lightweight titles with a wide unanimous decision over Leila Beaudoin in a contest held under men’s championship rules with 12 rounds of three minutes each. The 31-year-old Ohio native, who rose to prominence by stopping Terri Harper in 2021 before unifying all four belts to become the undisputed champion in 2023, repeatedly punished Beaudoin with body shots, finally dropping her with a right hook to the temple at the bell ending the seventh round.

Beaudoin (13-2, 2 KOs), a one-time downhill skier from Canada who took up boxing as part of her cardio training and turned professional in 2019, showed durability and ambition but was outclassed by Baumgardner’s movement and power, particularly in the later rounds as her visible frustration mounted. The judges’ scores of 117-110 (twice) and 118-109 squared with the action.

“I give myself an A-plus,” said Baumgardner, who outlanded her opponent by a 158-98 margin according to Compubox’s punch statistics.

Caroline Dubois, the 24-year-old sister of British heavyweight contender Daniel Dubois, retained her WBC lightweight title on her US debut with a commanding 10-round unanimous decision over Camila Panatta. Dubois (12-0-1, 5 KOs), tapped as one of Britain’s most promising young professionals after representing her country at the Tokyo Olympics, found her range early and wore her opponent down with steady pressure and pinpoint accuracy, dropping Panatta with a check right hook near the end of the sixth round.

Panatta (8-3-1, 1 KO), an Italian southpaw based in nearby West Palm Beach who has sparred extensively with elite champions like Katie Taylor, kept pressing forward but proved no match for the Londoner, who won by identical scores of 99-90 from the three ringside judges. It marked a third successful title defense for Dubois, who was elevated to full world champion last year after a rapid ascent through the ranks.

Australia’s Cherneka Johnson retained her undisputed bantamweight championship with a unanimous-decision win over Amanda Galle that was closer than the 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 scores handed down. The Melbourne-based Johnson (19-2, 8 KOs), who made history by becoming Australia’s first four-belt undisputed champion earlier this year, forced the action from the opening bell, backing Galle up with superior offense and physicality.

But Galle (12-1-1, 1 KO), a Canadian challenger with a background in karate and multiple national titles, remained competitive and resilient in an exciting contest brimming with two-way action. While Johnson was a deserving winner in defense of her WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF titles at 118lb, Galle deserved better from the judges.

Earlier, Yokasta Valle shaded a bloody majority decision over Yadira Bustillos, keeping her WBC strawweight title by scores of 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95 in a crowd-pleasing, defense-optional affair that saw both women fire off a combined 1,045 punches over 20 blistering minutes.

A three-division world champion from Costa Rica and a fixture on most pound-for-pound lists, Valle (34-3, 10 KOs) dictated the rhythm with fast combinations, repeatedly beating her opponent to the punch in the opening rounds. Bustillos (11-2, 2 KOs) continued to press through a series of head clashes that left both women bloodied early on, but Valle’s experience and accuracy carried her through the tape.

The four title bouts were featured on a card headlined by Paul and Joshua and streamed globally by Netflix, offering rare continuity and visibility for women’s championship boxing on a single major promotion. While the main event attracted intense scrutiny throughout the run-up, the undercard reflected a sustained investment in women’s boxing that has often been absent from the sport’s biggest platforms.

Paul, through his four-year-old Most Valuable Promotions company, has made women’s boxing a central feature of his events, hoovering up elite fighters and securing prominent billing on major stages, including the historic Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano trilogy. Friday’s card at the 20,000-seat home of the NBA’s Miami Heat continued that pattern, with the quartet women’s title fights promoted alongside one of the year’s most heavily marketed boxing events.