After 18 wins without a loss, Tiara Brown will finally get her first world title opportunity on March 22. A nine-year pro from Lehigh Acres, Florida, Brown will travel to Sydney, Australia, to face WBC featherweight titleholder Skye Nicolson, who is already approaching her third title defense, despite having been a professional for only three years.

The well-traveled Brown believes she has had a tougher road to the top than her opponent – though that doesn’t mean she doesn’t respect the challenge Nicolson presents.

“I feel like [Skye] has been given the easy road to the world title,” said Brown, 18-0 (11 KOs), in a virtual head-to-head meeting last week. “She's been spoon-fed. I believe she knows that, too, because I’m sure I saw a comment saying she likes to be spoon-fed.

“It’s not personal … it’s business. We need more people to be pushing women’s boxing and we need people watching this great fight.”

Nicolson, 29, of Yatala, Queensland, Australia, has largely fast-tracked herself to the top on the basis of her extensive amateur background, which saw her advance to the quarterfinals of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo before she turned professional in 2022.

She won the interim title 18 months later and became full belt holder 11 months ago when she outclassed Sarah Mahfoud to win the vacant belt. Nicolson says she has earned her position as a world titleholder the old-fashioned way – by beating the best available boxers. She doesn’t take the criticism personally, and says it helps put more eyes on the sport.

“I’ve fought and beaten the best in the division to become a world champion. That’s what this sport needs and that’s what my team and I will keep doing in my quest to win it all,” said Nicolson, 12-0 (1 KO).

“Tiara’s earned this fight and she’s pushing it – and that’s what women’s boxing needs. This will be a great night and a great fight. Don’t miss it.”

The fight has been marinating for at least two years, as the two have teased a potential matchup on social media. The fight will be part of the DAZN card headlined by a junior welterweight matchup between former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jnr and Indonesia’s Daud Yordan.

“I posted that I wanted ‘all the smoke’ in the featherweight division – and I think Tiara took that personally. She responded with, ‘I’m the smoke, and you can all get the smoke,’ and it kind of all just went from there,” said Nicolson about how the two first crossed paths on social media.

“I've never not wanted to fight Tiara. I’m very excited for this fight and I think it will be a great fight. Our styles will clash well, and I can’t wait."

For Brown, Nicolson’s words were like a personal call to action.

“It means the world to me to fight for the WBC belt,” said Brown. “And that’s exactly how it went down. many people were showing me what was said and I was like, ‘OK, let me respond to this.’”

Nicolson-Brown will take place at Qudus Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park and will be Nicolson’s first in her home country in nearly three years. 

“I’m very excited to be fighting in Australia,” said Nicolson. “The plan is to defend this and go on to collecting more belts. I’ve never been in a position where I’ve been in a fight, so I’m hoping this will be the first time and I’ll put on a great performance in front of my home fans.”

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.