The queen remained the queen, albeit in anti-climactic fashion.
Alycia Baumgardner and Delfine Persoon were forced to settle for a No Contest in their RING/undisputed 130-pound championship. A clash of heads left Persoon with a deep cut along her right eyebrow that forced the early end Friday at Lux Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.
The incident in question occurred in round four with about 45 seconds to go. Because the fight did not make it to the end of the fourth, it was not declared an official fight.
“Listen, everybody knows I was getting ready to lay it on her,” Baumgardner said of the sudden end. “Just understand, I’m back.”
Signs of a long night ahead came for Belgium’s Person, 39, from the WBC mandatory challenger’s ringwalk.
The former WBC lightweight titleholder had a massive brace on her right knee, which appeared to limit her mobility. Her normally high-octane offense was nowhere to be found, though that could also be attributed to the speed and power of Baumgardner, 30, who was sharp despite a 14-month layoff.
Baumgardner (15-1, 7 KOs; 1 No Contest) scored the fight’s lone takedown late in the first. A left hook behind a right hand forced Persoon (49-3, 19 KOs; 2 NC) to touch both gloves to the canvas. Referee Laurence Cole correctly disallowed her and issued the mandatory eight count.
Person had mild success with her long, straight right hand in the second and third rounds. The moments were rare compared to Baumgardner’s success through her right hands and left hooks.
Time was called past the midpoint in round four after both fighters bumped heads. Person came forward and tried to undress just as Baumgardner stuck her head in to restore her posture. The sequence made Person turn away in pain as she pawed at her right eyebrow. Cole sent both fighters to a neutral corner and called the ringside doctor to examine the wound.
Person was visibly upset, even though it was explained to her twice that the fight would end in a No-Contest if the fight was stopped. Such was the verdict, as it was determined that the cut was too severe for Person to continue.
The fight extended Baumgardner’s undefeated streak to ten fights. However, it was her first fight since July 2018 not to end in victory. That loss came to Christina Linardatou, a loss she avenged in a ten-round decision last July in Detroit, Michigan.
Controversy followed that championship defense, when it was learned that Baumgardner had tested positive for a banned substance. The case dragged on for months due to the inaction of the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission. Baumgardner was ultimately put on probation in a decision by the WBC, which mandated Friday’s fight.
Person is now undefeated in her past six starts, but that includes two No contests.
The run came after her August 2020 loss to Katie Taylor in their RING/Undisputed Lightweight Championship rematch in Brentwood, England. Persoon’s long-standing WBC lightweight title reign ended in a narrow loss to Ireland’s Taylor in their June 2019 full unification bout in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Person was the number one contender with all four major sanctioning bodies and ranked no. Rated 1 out of 130. However, it was a record purse trial that was won Global Combat Collective, which posted $500,000 to secure fight rights. GCC outbid Matchroom Boxing ($281,500), Baumgardner’s promoter of record, although their deal ended with Friday’s fight.
Friday marked Baumgardner’s fifth overall defense of at least one title and her third as RING champion. She won the WBC belt in a November 2021 fourth round knockout of undefeated titlist Terri Harper. The IBF and WBO belts and RING crown were added in a split decision over Mikaela Mayer, who was undefeated before their October 2022 unification and grudge match in London.
Baumgardner collected the final chip, the WBA strap, in a ten-round victory over Elhem Mekhaled last February in New York City. The fight was her first in the US after three in a row in the UK Friday was her third in a row in the states.
