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Alycia Baumgardner moved a step closer to a fight with Caroline Dubois on Sunday, dominating Elif Nur Turhan to become IBF lightweight champion.
Baumgardner was undisputed at super-featherweight before venturing up to her new division, where all three judges gave her all 10 rounds against Nur Turhan.
With that, Nur Turhan lost her IBF title and unbeaten record, while Baumgardner closed in on a unification fight with Britain’s Dubois.
Dubois even spoke to her American rival from ringside after the main event had finished, in a reversal of a scene from August – when Baumgardner did the same following Dubois’s win over Amelia Moore.
While Dubois used her time on the microphone on Sunday to call for a fight with Baumgardner, 32, the Britain must first beat Stephanie Han in February.
In that fight, Dubois, 25, will put her WBC and WBO titles on the line, while Han’s WBA strap will be up for grabs. Both fighters will enter that bout unbeaten.
Also on Sunday’s card in Arlington, Texas, Ramla Ali beat Mikiah Krips by split decision to pick up the vacant IBF and WBO belts at super-bantamweight. Earlier in the night, Australian star Skye Nicolson easily outpointed Miyo Yoshida to retain the WBC super-bantamweight title, meaning a unification with Ali could ensue.
And in the night’s other world-title fight, Irma Garcia beat Nataly Delgado via unanimous decision to keep the IBF super-flyweight belt.
