The reinvention of Skye Nicolson: ‘I was a bit of a shell of myself’

Skye Nicolson laughs as she recollects the ache. That, in itself, is often a signal of growth and peace.

“It was a really difficult time for me,” the Australian admits to The Independent over Zoom, reflecting on her sole skilled loss: a cut up choice in March 2025. “I felt like a lot of the points I needed to deal with were really inside – mindset, mental stuff, more than bodily. I had a great camp, we’d performed everything proper, I was boxing out of my pores and skin in sparring…

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“I think the event and other contributing elements, issues I guess I hadn’t ready for that occurred in battle week, I let them weigh me down. I was a bit of a shell of myself going into that battle.

“There was a lot of stuff I had to deal with away from the gym, nothing to do with my coaching team. For me, the most disappointing part was knowing how much better I am, and not being able to show that when it mattered.”

Women’s boxing strikes shortly, on both a micro and macro stage. The conventional ruleset of 10 two-minute rounds means fights fly, but the greater image is that fighters typically become world champions while they are still being touted as the next massive factor.

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So it was for Nicolson. Now 31, the southpaw had emerged in 2022 as one of the faces of Matchroom’s next technology, with her spot on the undercard of Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 1 permitting essential publicity to the wider boxing world. She was an interim world champion by her eighth battle, and a full champion by her tenth.

But after successful the vacant WBC featherweight title and retaining it twice, Nicolson met her first main hurdle. Back home, Down Under, Nicolson went the distance with the unbeaten Tiara Brown. The distance introduced defeat, Nicolson’s first.

Yet Nicolson subscribes to a certain, helpful sentiment. “They say it’s not always a loss, it’s a lesson. I feel like there were many lessons in that. I guess that’s what those experiences are for.”

Defeats typically signal a change of division for boxers, and it was no totally different for Nicolson, but while many fighters decide to transfer up in weight, Nicolson dropped down.

“After that defeat, I was just looking at everything I was doing and working out where can I be better,” she says. “I wasn’t working with a nutritionist, so I wanted to get my body composition done, make sure I was actually boxing in the right division for me. There, I was told that super-bantam was probably ideal, and bantam was even possible.” That said, her own point out of bantamweight attracts a nervous giggle out of Nicolson.

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“So, to be boxing at featherweight, it just felt like: why not see how I feel going down? I’m really, really glad I did, because physically it’s the best I’ve ever felt – and probably where I should have always been. I definitely feel like I have the height and reach to box at 126lb and probably even 130, but based off my physique right now and a year ago… It was 122, so I feel very, very good at this weight.”

In Nicolson’s case, reinvention equalled reinvigoration.

On her debut at super-bantamweight, she won in two rounds, and her sophomore outing yielded the same end result. Nicolson even managed one more win in 2025, before beating Mariah Turner this spring to win the interim WBC title – which was soon upgraded, when Britain’s Ellie Scotney vacated the essential belt.

And then came an uncommon profession replace.

With many of the sport’s prime feminine abilities flocking to Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), but with Matchroom eager to keep Nicolson, the two firms struck a “strategic alliance”. It means Nicolson will make her MVP debut on Sunday, taking on Miyo Yoshida, though she can still battle for Matchroom.

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“Matchroom came to me with a conversation around what it would look like,” Nicolson explains. “For me, it did feel like a no-brainer to merge. I never would have wanted to leave Matchroom, so I kind of get the best of both worlds in the sense that we can make the biggest and best fights out there.

“Obviously MVP have such a massive secure, Matchroom clearly have the expertise, so I just really feel like it made good sense for me. I need to be unifying the division, I need to be an undisputed world champion, so hopefully we can see those massive fights in 2027.

“We could see me fighting the winner of Ramla Ali and Mikiah Kreps; they’re fighting for two of the belts [on Sunday]. Melissa Mortensen has the other belt, so I feel like within two or three fights, we could see me becoming undisputed. That has kind of become my main focus.”

As much as she needs to unify the belts at her new weight, Nicolson knows that some of her greatest checks and business alternatives stay up at featherweight.

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“I’ve said right from the get-go when I went to 122lb, it wasn’t goodbye to 126. I’m more than ready to take fights at 126 as well. Right now the 122lb division has opened back up, with Ellie moving up, so I guess that ever-elusive chance at finally fighting for undisputed feels a lot closer.

“But clearly boxing is a business at the finish of the day. I need to be in the greatest fights, I also need to be in legacy fights. I think the rematch with Tiara Brown will be inevitable. I’m excited for her vs Ellie, and clearly the winner of that battle is also a battle that I would positively be chasing.”

Yet there were similar hopes for Nicolson during her first world-title reign, before the tumult of her first loss, meaning she cannot look past Yoshida in Dallas.

Of her preparation, Nicolson says: “I’m a very reactive fighter, so I really feel like a lot of my fashion is very much on what’s in entrance of me. I think people have totally different performances against all differing kinds of opponents – totally different heights, totally different stances.

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“So, I will always watch some tape of my opponents to get an idea for their style, but I never take that as gospel. I leave a lot of that kind of gameplan, tape stuff, to my team. I’m more focused on what’s happening right in front of me. I focus on the work I do in the gym to make sure that I’m ready for anything.”

Reinvented, reinvigorated, and prepared.