Alycia Baumgardner to Battle Elhem Mekhaled for Undisputed Honors
Unified women’s junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner (13-1, 7 KO) has said throughout the year that her goal is to be undisputed at 130. That chance will come when the 28-year-old faces Elhem Mekhaled (15-1, 3 KO) on February 4 at the MSG Hulu Center in New York City.
As reported by 3Kings Boxing, the opportunity became available for Baumgardner when the WBA ruled that previous long-time WBA 130-pound champion Hyun-Mi Choi is now a champion in recess. The sanctioning body had ordered a contest between Baumgardner and Choi. But Choi says she is injured and thus is unable to fight.
ON TO THE NEXT
Baumgardner’s last outing was a split-decision win over one-time unified champion Mikaela Mayer on October 2022. She now fights Mekhaled, who is currently ranked fifth by the WBA as of their latest rankings for November 2022. Her lone loss came against one-time WBC lightweight champion Delfine Persoon in May 2022. Despite being on the losing end, the 31-year-old gave an excellent account for herself and proved that she’s one of the better ladies competing at 130 and 135.
Baumgardner – Mekhaled is a part of what is a terrific card that will air live on DAZN. That fight will be on the undercard of the showdown to determine the undisputed women’s featherweight champion between unified champ Amanda Serrano and WBA champion Erika Cruz.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
