Skye Nicolson in homecoming headliner vs Mariah Turner on April 29
The stars continue to align for Skye Nicolson on the road back from her only career defeat.
Nicolson will return home to her native Australia to defend her interim junior featherweight title against Mariah Turner and headline her first show on April 29 at the Melbourne Pavilion, promoter Matchroom Boxing announced on Thursday.
“This is a huge moment for me, and I’m thrilled to be coming home to defend my WBC title and mandatory position for the soon-to-be-crowned undisputed champion,” said Nicolson, who trains in Spain and will be angling to parlay a win in her homecoming main event into a shot at the winner of the April 5 matchup between Ellie Scotney and Mayelli Flores, who will control the other three belts at 122.
With Matchroom and Eddie Hearn leaning into the Australian boxing market, the show will also include junior welterweight Jake Wyllie, of Warwick, Queensland, taking on London 2012 Aussie Olympian Ibrahim Balla in the co-main event, and the return of Brisbane’s Teremoana Teremoana, a rising heavyweight prospect and another former Aussie Olympian.
“We have a great chance to really get our teeth into what I believe is the most exciting time ever for Australian boxing and can't wait to stage many major events here in what promises to be a big year,” Hearn said.
Few fighters are set up for a bigger 2026 than Nicolson, 15-1 (3 KOs), who is 3-0 since losing her featherweight crown in a split decision to Tiara Brown last March. After authoring just one knockout in 13 fights at 126lbs, she stopped Carla Camila Campos Gonzales last July, dropped to 122 to knock out Urvashi Singh a month later and then snatched the interim junior lightweight title from Yuliahn Luna Avila last December. Nicolson can take a step closer to a shot at becoming a two-division champion and first-time undisputed with a win over Turner.
“Mariah is a quality fighter, and I’m expecting a tough challenge,” said Nicolson, a 30-year-old southpaw originally from Meadowbrook, Queensland. “But every time I step into the ring, I level up, and I plan on making a real statement on April 29 in Melbourne and setting up the megafights in the division for 2026.”
Turner, 12-1 (6 KOs), a New Zealander now based in Brisbane, will be dropping down from featherweight to tangle with Nicolson. She will enter on a seven-fight win streak, but Turner has yet to face anyone on the level of Nicolson since turning pro in 2023.
“This is the biggest challenge of my career so far,” she said, “and the kind of opportunity that dreams are made of.”
Teremoana, 9-0 (9 KOs), will face Curtis Harper in Orlando, Florida, on March 21 – barely a month ahead of the Melbourne show – not that it seems to bother him in the least.
“I’m really looking forward to what promises to be a busy 2026,” said Teremoana, whose April 29 opponent has yet to be determined.
