SAN DIEGO – Skye Nicolson enjoyed a number of firsts.
The 26-year-old southpaw—who represented Australia in last summer’s Tokyo Olympics—won her pro debut with a six-round, unanimous decision win over locally-based Jessica Juarez (3-1, 1KO). Judges Chris Migliore (60-54), Alejandro Rochin (59-55) and David Solivan (60-54) all scored every round for Nicolson in their featherweight bout Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
The fast-paced bout between southpaws saw Nicolson (1-0, 0KOs) box smartly, using constant movement to disallow Juarez (3-1, 1KO) the chance to plant her feet and land anything of substance. Nicolson was first to the punch on nearly every exchange, biting down and landing purposeful left hands whenever Juarez was able to make her way inside.
The first was Nicolson’s first in front of fans since March 2020 in Amman, Jordan where she qualified for the delayed Tokyo Olympics. Nicolson told BoxingScene.com that her plan is to fight six times in 2022, including at least one in her hometown of Queensland, Australia.
Nicolson advanced to the quarterfinal round of the featherweight bracket, losing to eventual Silver medalist Karriss Artingstall of Great Britain.
In the opening bout of the night, Los Angeles native Anthony Herrera (2-0, 2KOs) knocked out San Diego’s own Jose Toribo (7-5, 1KO) in the fourth and final round of their bantamweight contest. Herrera drew blood in round two, opening a cut over Toribo’s right eye before taking him out with a body shot to produce a full ten count at 0:24 of round four.
Both preliminary undercard bouts aired live on DAZN’s ‘Before The Bell’ series, preceding the main card on DAZN. In the evening’s main event, former four-division champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (50-3, 41KOs) faces WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar ‘El Rey’ Martinez (18-1, 14KOs; 2ND) whose title is not at stake.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox