Baumgardner and Dubois win as women’s champions shine on Paul v Joshua undercard

The tournament's undercard featured four women's fights for the world title. The fight between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua will take place on Friday night. at Miami's Kaseya Center, where Alicia Baumgardner, Caroline Dubois, Cerneka Johnson and Jocasta Valle retained their championships on a card that once again put women's boxing on one of the sport's biggest stages in the world.

Connected: Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua: Heavyweight Boxing – Live Preparation

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Alicia Baumgardner (17-1, 7 KOs), one of the sport's biggest stars, successfully defended her WBO, IBF and WBA junior lightweight titles with a unanimous decision victory over Leila Beaudoin in a men's championship bout of 12 rounds of three minutes each. The 31-year-old Ohio native, who rose to fame stopping Terri Harper in 2021 before unifying all four belts to become undisputed champion in 2023, punished Beaudoin repeatedly with body shots, eventually dropping her with a right hook to the temple at the bell to end the seventh round.

Beaudoin (13-2, 2 KOs), a former alpine skier from Canada who took up boxing as part of her cardio training and turned pro in 2019, showed toughness and ambition but was outmatched by Baumgardner's movement and power, especially in the later rounds as her visible frustration mounted. Judges scores of 117-110 (twice) and 118-109 are in line with the action.

“I give myself an A-plus,” said Baumgardner, who outscored her opponent 158-98, according to Compubox hitting statistics.

Caroline Dubois, 24-year-old sister British heavyweight Daniel Duboisretained her WBC lightweight title on her US debut with a 10-round unanimous decision over Camila Panatta. Dubois (12-0-1, 5 KOs), hailed as one of Britain's most promising young professionals after representing her country at the Tokyo Olympics, found her range early and wore down her opponent with sustained pressure and pinpoint accuracy, dropping Panatta with a right hook towards the end of the sixth round.

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Panatta (8-3-1, 1 KO), an Italian southpaw based in nearby West Palm Beach who has sparred extensively with elite champions like Katie Taylor, continued to push forward but was no match for the Londoner, who won by the same score of 99-90 according to the three ringside judges. It marked the third successful title defense for Dubois, who became a full world champion last year after quickly rising through the ranks.

Australia's Cerneka Johnson retained her undisputed bantamweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Amanda Galle, who was closer by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93. Melbourne's Johnson (19-2, 8 KOs), who made history by becoming Australia's first undisputed four-belt champion earlier this year, forced the fight from the opening bell, backing Galle with superior attack and physicality.

But Halle (12-1-1, 1 KO), a Canadian contender with a karate background and multiple national titles, remained competitive and resilient in an exciting fight filled with two-way action. While Johnson was a deserving winner, defending her WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF 118-pound titles, Halle deserved better from the judges.

Earlier, Jocasta Valle eclipsed a bloody majority decision over Yadira Bustillos to retain her WBC strawweight title by scores of 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95 in a crowd-pleasing bout that saw both women land a combined 1,045 punches in 20 blistering minutes.

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A three-division world champion from Costa Rica and a fixture on most lists regardless of the pound, Valle (34-3, 10 KOs) dictated the rhythm with fast combinations, repeatedly outscoring her opponent in the early rounds. Bustillos (11-2, 2 KOs) continued to work through a series of head clashes that left both women bloodied early on, but Valle's experience and precision carried her through the tape.

Four title fights were featured on the card, headlined by Paul vs. Joshua, and streamed worldwide on Netflix, offering rare continuity and visibility of the women's boxing championship in one major promotion. Bye main event attracted close attention Throughout the build-up, the undercard reflected the sustained investment in women's boxing that has often been absent from the sport's biggest platforms.

Paul, through his four-year-old company Most Valuable Promotions, has made women's boxing the centerpiece of its events, attracting elite fighters and securing notable bills on major stages including historical trilogy Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano. Friday's event at the NBA's 20,000-seat Miami Heat continued that tradition, with a quartet of women's title fights taking place alongside one of the top-selling boxing events of the year.