Unified champion defends WBA, WBO and IBF belts as ESPN becomes U.S. home for MVP women’s boxing series
Alycia Baumgardner will defend her unified super featherweight titles on April 17 as ESPN begins broadcasting Most Valuable Promotions’ new women’s boxing series.
Most Valuable Promotions has secured a long-term U.S. television home for its women’s boxing platform after reaching a multi-year agreement with ESPN. The deal places championship fights on ESPN’s linear channels and streaming platforms through 2028.
The company introduced the new brand, MVPW, during an announcement at Madison Square Garden in New York. Events will follow a numbered structure beginning with MVPW-01 and continuing through a year-round schedule built around world title fights.
The launch also begins a strategic relationship between Most Valuable Promotions and Madison Square Garden Entertainment. Both sides plan to stage annual MVPW cards at the venue during the next three years, placing New York City at the center of the series’ U.S. schedule.
The first American broadcast arrives April 17 with MVPW-02 at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden. Unified super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner (17-1, 7 KOs) defends the WBA, WBO and IBF belts against ranked contender Bo Mi Re Shin (19-3-3, 10 KOs).
Shin enters the fight ranked WBA No. 4, IBF No. 6 and WBO No. 7 at 130 pounds, giving Baumgardner a mandatory pressure scenario across multiple sanctioning bodies if she intends to keep the unified championship intact.
Baumgardner acknowledged the significance of returning to New York with several belts on the line.
“New York sets the tone for boxing’s biggest nights,” Baumgardner said. “Becoming undisputed there was monumental, and the fans have embraced me from the beginning.”
She also addressed the symbolism of appearing on ESPN’s schedule.
“ESPN is where greatness is documented, and I’m ready to perform at that level,” Baumgardner said.
The April 17 event also includes unified super middleweight champion Shadasia Green (16-1, 11 KOs), who defends her belts against Lani Daniels (11-4-2, 1 KO) in a 10-round title fight at 168 pounds.
The MVPW calendar begins April 5 in London with MVPW-01. The card features Caroline Dubois against Terri Harper and Ellie Scotney facing Mayelli Flores. The event streams in the United States on the ESPN App and airs in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports.
A third event follows May 30 in El Paso, Texas. WBA lightweight champion Stephanie Han (12-0, 3 KOs) meets Holly Holm (34-3-3, 9 KOs) in a rematch after their previous fight ended early following an accidental clash of heads that led to a technical decision.
For ESPN, the agreement introduces regular championship fights featuring women’s divisions that rarely receive consistent network exposure. For Most Valuable Promotions, the arrangement places several unified champions under a single broadcast structure.
That structure gives the series a direct influence on multiple belt lineups across super featherweight, super middleweight and lightweight. With ESPN distribution secured through 2028, those divisions will now move through a schedule controlled largely by MVPW’s championship events.
