Skye Nicolson Outpoints Luna Avila For WBC Interim Belt

Skye Nicolson turned Stockton into a long night for Yuliahn Luna Ávila, producing a tidy, disciplined ten-round performance to lift the WBC interim super bantamweight title at Adventist Health Arena. The Australian southpaw never looked remotely interested in a tear-up, and by the time the scores were read — 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93 — it felt less like a verdict than a formality.

Luna, the more natural aggressor and a former champion at lower weights, had her best spell early. She started with purpose in the first two rounds, stepping in behind her own jab and trying to make Nicolson work on the back foot before the rhythm could settle. But Nicolson’s feet warmed quickly, and from the third she began to put the fight where she wanted it: just outside Luna’s reach, with a long jab in Luna’s face and the angle changing before the reply could be loaded.

From there, it became the familiar Nicolson exercise — not flashy, not exceptionally violent, but engagingly effective. She speared single shots down the pipe, slid away from the counters, and punctuated exchanges with check hooks and the occasional touch downstairs that did more for control than damage. Luna kept marching, kept trying to shorten the ring, yet too often found herself swinging at air or arriving a fraction late, as Nicolson had already stepped off the line and banked another neat scoring shot.

The middle rounds were where the gap widened. Nicolson’s jab did the heavy lifting, but it was the calmness that really drained Luna. Every time the Mexican thought she’d finally pinned her down, Nicolson would pivot out, reset, and start again, as if the previous thirty seconds had been mislaid by someone else. Luna’s effort never dipped, but the adjustments didn’t come: the pressure stayed straight, the attacks came in ones and twos, and Nicolson was rarely where she’d been invited to stand.

Late on, with the fight slipping away, Luna tried to force exchanges and make it untidy, but Nicolson’s accuracy and positioning held. She didn’t chase a stoppage, didn’t take unnecessary trades, and didn’t give Luna the sort of clear target that turns a points deficit into a crisis. When the final bell went, it was the kind of win that won’t live long in anyone’s memory — except the judges’, who had Nicolson taking control after that early Luna burst and never really letting go.

It also fits the wider plot: Nicolson continues to look settled at 122, picking up the WBC interim belt and keeping herself in the thick of the title picture after dropping down from featherweight earlier this year. Luna, meanwhile, proved tough and willing, but on this evidence, she’ll need a sharper plan than simple pursuit when the opponent has legs, a jab, and the patience to use both.