On Friday, Caroline Dubois won her first fight in Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions by unanimous decision against Camilla Panatta.
Dubois (12-0-1, 5 KO) defended her WBC lightweight title with a dominant performance, and her impressive skills were on full display in Miami.
All three judges scored it 99-90 in favor of Dubois.
Even though the Briton hadn’t fought since March, she hardly missed a beat and imposed herself from the first round, landing a pristine right hand early in the fight, and from then on it was one-way traffic.
Dubois’ excellent movement and footwork made it challenging for Panatta (8-3-1, 1 KO) to land.
In Round 3, Dubois increased the pressure, often leading with right jabs, and then followed with a left hand that Panatta couldn’t handle.
The Italian challenger was fearless and tried to force the action at times, but Dubois moved well throughout the match and avoided attacks.
Dubois took her prize in Round 6 with a demanding right hand from close range, knocking down Panatta, who got back to her feet and had just seconds to survive before the end of the round.
Resisting the temptation to jump in and insist on an early stoppage in rounds 7 and 8, Dubois returned to boxing.
Before the final round, coach Shane McGuigan urged Dubois to “put the cherry on the cake” and go for the stoppage, and although that didn’t happen, she finished the contest with a gigantic right hand in an impressive American debut.
Cherneka Johnson later defended her undisputed bantamweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Amanda Galle.
Johnson (19-2, 8 KO) won on the judges’ scorecards 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.
The pair moved their hands away from the opening bell, a sign of what was to come. Johnson was cut above his left eye at the end of the first round, and Galle (12-1-1.1 KO) was bleeding at the end of the next round.
The brutal fight was mostly fought in the pocket, with Johnson landing the cleaner punches.
Galle’s score was impressive and she caught Johnson several times in the head and body, but the champion handled it well.
Halfway through, the canvas had to be wiped because a lot of blood was spilled. Galle pushed until the final bell, but Johnson showed class as she defended her titles for the first time.