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Natasha Jonas’ quest for super welterweight unification continues on November 12th when she takes on IBF titlist Marie-Eve Dicaire atop a BOXXER show at Manchester’s AO Arena.
Jonas (12-2-1, 8 KO) smashed Chris Namus for the WBO belt in February, then added the WBC title to her collection with a virtual shutout of Patricia Berghult earlier this month. You may recall Dicaire (18-1, 1 KO) from her March 2021 shutout loss to Claressa Shields, which ended a two-year title rain, or from last December’s stoppage of the hideously outmatched Cynthia Lozano to reclaim the belt.
The goal here is to set up an undisputed rematch with Terri Harper, who just beat Hannah Rankin for the WBA belt. Should Jonas emerge victorious, there will be no better symbol of how barren the >140-lb women’s divisions are than two natural lightweights/super featherweights fighting for super welterweight supremacy.
The co-main event pits British super lightweight champ Dalton Smith (12-0, 10 KO) against Kaisee Benjamin (16-1-1, 6 KO) in what looks like a nice little matchup. Smith is a hot commodity, having run over Sam O’maison in August, while Benjamin’s been plugging away against mid-level domestic competition for the last few years.
Smith’s a Matchroom product, but BOXXER won the purse bid.
Up at heavyweight, Tokyo bronze medalist Frazer Clarke (3-0, 3 KO) takes an appreciated step up in class against the king of European journeymen, Kamil Sokolowski (11-26-3, 4 KO). We’ve had to watch other medalists like Richard Torrez slow-walked, so it’s nice to see Clarke face an actual test.
Bradley Rea (14-0, 5 KO) will also be in action opposite former English champ Tyler Denny (14-2-3, 0 KO), which seems like another nice bit of matchmaking.
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