Skye Nicolson shuts out Dyana Vargas in master clinic, retains WBC feather belt

PHILADELPHIA — Skye Nicolson barely had to get out of first gear in her first defense of the WBC featherweight title, shutting out the tough but overmatched Dyana Vargas over ten rounds at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

All three judges had the fight a clean sweep, 100-90, for Nicolson (11-0, 1 knockouts) of Yatala, Australia.

From the outset, Nicolson’s vastly superior skillset was an insurmountable challenge for Vargas (19-2, 12 KOs) of Sabana Iglesia in the Dominican Republic. Nicolson used her southpaw jab in the first round to keep Vargas honest, and landed a straight left to punctuate the round.

Vargas, who is four years older than Nicolson at 32, finally got close in the third round, flailing away with a wide flurry in close that was caught mostly on Nicolson’s gloves and shoulders. Nicolson continued to potshot with her jab and straight left at distance as Vargas struggled to find a way inside that didn’t result in eating a combination.

This pattern kept up for most of the fight, and though Nicolson was able to land with impunity, her relative lack of punching power meant that this fight was most likely going the distance from the opening bell. Nicolson did manage to stun Vargas briefly in the fifth round with an overhand left that Nicolson continued to land without any defensive solution.

Vargas, who was fighting outside of her native country for the first time as a pro, never stopped trying but couldn’t get past the straight punches of her opponent.

Nicolson opened up a cut under Vargas’ left eye at the beginning of the tenth round, and smiled in her opponent’s face while making chicken gestures at Vargas. Despite that contentious moment, the two embraced warmly at the final bell.

Nicolson, a 2020 Olympian for Australia and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, won the title in her previous fight this past April, outboxing Sarah Mahfoud in a similar performance.

The fight was part of the DAZN broadcast headlined by the IBF welterweight title fight between Jaron Ennis and David Avanesyan.