The conversations around the future of women’s boxing have been popular in recent years, and this week was no exception.
Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, made it clear what he believes should be next for Katie Taylor. Speaking on the direction of the sport’s biggest names, Bidarian pointed to Caroline Dubois as the most compelling option for what could be the final chapter of Taylor’s career.
“The logical fight, the biggest fight in all of women’s boxing now is Caroline Dubois vs Katie Taylor. That’s the fight,” Bidarian told talkSPORT. “That’s the new generation and Katie Taylor is obviously THE generation. I think it’s the perfect passing of the baton. She may not pass it. She may beat Caroline. She’s a phenomenal fighter. But imagine that generational kind of passing moment.”
It is a clean pitch on paper. Youth versus experience. A rising champion against the standard bearer of the era that helped push women’s boxing into the mainstream.
And more importantly, it is easy to sell.
Taylor’s (25-1, 6 KOs) reach has already extended beyond the traditional boxing audience, particularly with her recent exposure on Netflix, while Dubois (13-0-1, 5 KOs) brings a style that feels built for visibility. Sharp, aggressive, technically sound, but with enough bite to create moments. It is the kind of pairing that does not need much convincing, especially in a landscape where timing has already cost the sport more than a few meaningful fights.
Dubois, for her part, dismissed the idea for now, saying she “got a lot of time for Katie,” after resharing a clip of Bidarian’s comments.
Right now, her focus remains Alycia “The Bomb” Baumgardner.
If the potential Taylor fight represents the future, the present is playing out like a back-and-forth that has spilled well past competitive tension and into something more personal.
“I’m getting real bored with @alyciambaum’s bs, let’s just fight,” she wrote on social media, calling for a unification bout later this year.
Baumgardner (17-1, 7 KOs), who faces Bo Mi Re Shin (19-3-3, 10KOs) on April 17 at 135 pounds, wasted little time responding, taking to a live stream to dismiss both the performance and the opponent.
She labeled Dubois a “C level fighter” coming off a “C performance,” pointing to her own stoppage of Harper as the difference. For Baumgardner, the argument is not just about who won, but how. The ability to close the show, to make a statement without needing the scorecards, remains central to how she separates herself. Or did, before her PED scandal.
Regardless, she also made her position clear when it comes to negotiating power.
“I am the money maker,” Baumgardner said, adding that Dubois is not currently considered a superfight opponent in her plans, instead naming Taylor and Amanda Serrano as the division’s true headliners.
That framing matters. It shifts the conversation from merit to marketability, and from there, everything becomes more complicated. Of course, it did not stop there.
Claressa Shields inserted herself into the exchange, backing Dubois while questioning Baumgardner’s reluctance.
“This the same weirdo who was talking about coming to 147 & 154 to fight me,” Shields wrote. “Make the damn fight & shut up.”
Dubois and Shields are on one side, pushing for the fight to materialize now. Baumgardner on the other, measuring risk against reward and keeping her focus on names that carry more immediate weight.
Which brings everything back to Bidarian’s original point.
Dubois may not actually need the Baumgardner fight right now.
If the opportunity to face Taylor materializes, it offers something bigger. Beating Taylor, especially on a stage amplified by mainstream platforms, would do more for Dubois’ profile than a drawn-out negotiation that may never land.
Instead of proving herself against a rival in real time, Dubois would be stepping into a narrative that has already been written. The young champion challenging the face of the sport. The possibility, as Bidarian put it, of a passing of the baton. Or the reminder that it is not time yet.
None of that dismisses the value of a Baumgardner fight. If anything, it only adds to it. Especially if both continue down separate paths, facing established names before eventually meeting when the demand becomes unavoidable.
But boxing has a habit of waiting too long. Fights that feel inevitable rarely are. Not without the right push at the right moment.
Right now, the energy is there, even if it is scattered across interviews, live streams and timelines that read more like the burn book than a negotiation table, straight out of Mean Girls (2004). The challenge, as always, is getting it out of the timeline and into the ring.
For those looking to keep up with the saga, Alycia Baumgardner returns April 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York, headlining MVP’s all-women’s card against South Korea’s Bo Mi Re Shin.
The card begins at 5 p.m. ET/ 3 p.m. PT, with preliminary bouts streaming on the ESPN App and the main card airing live on ESPN.
