Promoter Eddie Hearn seemed pretty shaken, trying to make sense of what had happened to his fighter, WBC world female featherweight champion Skye Nicolson (12-1, 1 KO), with her losing to Tiara Brown (19-0, 11 KOs) by a ten round split decision last Saturday night at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
In Hearn’s eyes, the fight could have “gone either way,” but he still felt that Nicolson should have won. He pointed out that when an Australian fighter is at home, that one feels comfortable that “they’re going to get it.” That didn’t happen in this case, and that was because it was so one-sided. Brown dominated Skye from start to finish.
The Scores
96-94 – Brown
97-93 – Brown
96-94 – Skye
Hearn says Nicolson, 29, did enough to “nick it” against challenger Brown, and he wasn’t happy with the way the Australian judge scored the fight down the stretch.
Fans felt that Brown’s win was clear, as Nicolson’s ugly spoiling style was ineffective. She used her typical hit-and-run approach. Brown was pressuring throughout, throwing combinations and showing a lot more power.
“I thought it was a fight that could have gone either way, to be honest with you. I don’t think Skye performed at her best, and I don’t know the reason for that. Also, because Tiara Brown boxed really well,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to the Ring Magazine YouTube channel, trying to make sense of what happened with WBC World featherweight female champion Skye Nicolson’s defeat against Tiara Brown last Saturday night.
“I thought Skye won nine and ten, and I thought that was going to nick her the fight. Looking at the scorecards for the Australian judge [Phil Austin], I thought it was pretty disgusting. He gave Tiara Brown the last five rounds. You have to give her nine or ten, but all the scorecards were all over the place. When I got in the ring, it was one of them. I don’t see how you couldn’t give one of them four rounds in a worst-case scenario.
“It was a fight that could have gone either way. Sometimes, when you’re at home and there’s an Australian judge, you think, ‘We’re going to get it,’ but we didn’t.”
I could see how the Australian judge wouldn’t want to put himself in the firing line by scoring the fight in Nicolson’s favor. You can imagine the withering criticism this judge would have taken if he had scored it for Skye. I can’t blame him for giving it to Brown.
