NEW YORK CITY – Multiple World Champion Miyo Yoshida (19-5, 1 KO) can join an exclusive club this Sunday night, if she defeats defending World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Bantamweight World Champion Skye Nicolson in a ten-round title fight on “MVP 07,” airing live on ESPN from Arlington, Texas.
The 38-year-old Yoshida is among only 23 female world champions from Japan and only the sixth to hold world titles in multiple divisions. Yoshida is a 3-time, 2-division world champion who has held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Super Flyweight crown twice, as well as the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Bantamweight World title belt.
If she defeats Nicolson, who fights out of Australia, Yoshida will join Etsudo Tada (20-4-2, 7 KOs), and Yuko Kuroki (25-9-2, 10 KOs) as 4-time women’s world champions from Japan. The great Naoko Fujioka (19-3-1, 7 KOs) is the all-time Japanese female leader with 5 world titles.
“Naoko Fujioka is an incredible champion who made history in Japanese women’s boxing,” Yoshida said. “Becoming a 3-division world champion to add my name to that history would be tremendous. It’s not for me to decide where I rank all-time or what position I hold in Japanese women’s history.
“I moved to Hawaii when I was 20 and began my fighting career in MMA and kickboxing. I switched to boxing at 26, gave birth at 27, and without any amateur boxing experience, I fully returned to the sport after becoming a mother and went on to become a world champion. Later, I moved to New York City with my daughter and won another world title in the United States. I recognize my career has been pretty unconventional and that’s why I didn’t need to follow the same path as anyone else. I didn’t take the traditional path because I’ve always been something of an outsider.”
Yoshida, known as the “Fighting Single Mother” in Japan, is a respected role model and recipient of Ring Magazine‘s 2023 Most Inspirational Female Fighter award.
“A victory would make Miyo a 4-time world champion across three weight divisions, an achievement that would strengthen her place among Japan’s greatest female fighters,” Yoshida’s manager Keith Sullivan added. “Winning world titles from super flyweight through super bantamweight speaks to her skill, adaptability and extraordinary determination. For Miyo, this is a chance to turn an already remarkable career into a lasting legacy and show her daughter, and young women everywhere, how far courage and perseverance can take you.”
A former New York State Athletic Commission Deputy Commissioner, Sullivan also manages undefeated Brooklyn heavyweight prospect Pryce Taylor (13-0, 8 KOs), Albanian heavyweight Kristian Prenga (21-2, 21 KOs), Serbian heavyweight Sanel Hasanovic (11-1-1, 9 KOs), undefeated Staten Island light heavyweight prospect Arjan Iseni (6-0, 5 KOs), Bronx NYPD officer Nisa Rodriguez (4-1, 2 KOs),lightweight Fei Faiva (6-0-1, 4 KOs) and junior featherweight prospect Brooklyn “The Big Deal” Barwick (5-1, 5 KOs). Sullivan also co-manages IBF Welterweight World title challenger Paddy “The Real Deal” Donovan (16-2, 12 KOs) and his cousin, middleweight Jim Donovan (2-0, 1 KO), alongside coach and ex-world champion Andy Lee.
