Rhiannon Dixon Becomes WBO Champ by Besting Karen Carabajal
In a battle for the women’s vacant WBO lightweight title, Rhiannon Dixon (10-0, 1KO) became the new champion after defeating one-time undisputed title challenger Karen “Burbuja” Carabajal (22-2, 3KO).
After a slow start, Dixon picked up the pace by throwing punches in bunches and keeping Burbuja from attacking. Then in the third round, she landed a punishing counter left hand that put Carabajal on the canvas. The one-time challenger for the undisputed crown, Carabajal’s night only got tougher as the more confident and younger Dixon was pinpoint accurate with those countershots.
In the middle rounds, the more experienced Argentinian came alive and was landing the straight right hand at will. Then she used the jab to control the distance, putting Dixon on the backfoot. It was a masterful strategic adjustment made by Carabajal to regain the momentum of the fight.
Down the stretch, Dixon regained control by landing solid body shots. Burbuja remained focused and used the jab to set up hard counterhooks to the head and body. The judges’ scores were 98-91, 97-92, and 96-93 in favor of Dixon. 3Kings Boxing agrees with the last scorecard.
This is becoming a consistent problem in boxing as these scorecards are not telling the story of the fight. Nonetheless, congratulations to Dixon on becoming the champion.
