Nicolson vs Avila Predictions: Skye’s the limit for two-time world champion

WBO number-four Gabriel Flores Jr takes on former IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina this Saturday, December 13. The WBO international lightweight title match-up takes place at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California. DAZN will broadcast the event live, with Diego Pacheco facing puncher Kevin Lele Sadjo in the main event.

Read further for my Flores Jr vs Cordina predictions.

Nicolson vs Avila Odds

Nicolson is a big favourite at 1/16. I reckon her opponent Avila is a little hard done by here and I’ve seen far worse opposition given more than 10/1 to work with. The draw is priced at 16/1. An option for a fight I expect to be technical and hard to score.

Nicolson vs Avila Fight Preview

Nicolson is preparing for her fourth fight of a 2025 the Australian will want to forget. The 30-year-old ring stylist lost her WBC featherweight title to Tiara Brown via split decision in March. That shock defeat seems to have steeled Skye as she has embarked on a career down at super bantamweight.

Nicolson has found success, winning twice since the Brown upset. She seems better suited to her new division power-wise. Nicolson has knocked out her last two opponents in the second round. Before those bouts, the southpaw had only scored one stoppage in 13 fights.

Comeback opponent Carla Gonzales had been stopped twice before, admittedly. But Urvashi Singh, who Skye vanquished in August, was knocked out for the first time in her career. Avila will be the truest test of Nicolson’s new edge.

‘La Cobrita’ is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF super bantamweight title from 2014 to 2015 and the WBC bantamweight belt from 2020 to 2023. Still only 31, Avila is on a three-fight winning steak since losing her WBC title to Diana Thorslund two years ago.

Avila has encountered her share of controversy during her 33-bout career. Mariana Juarez falsely accused her of illegal hand wraps when Avila beat her for the WBC belt in 2020. A full investigation of the equipment by the WBC revealed there was no wrongdoing.

Away from that furore, Avila is clearly a world class proposition. Nicolson is walking into her first fight with an elite foe since the Brown defeat. This will be a thorough test of the fighter Skye is at her new weight.

While Nicolson fights for redemption, Avila fights for relevance. A defeat here will pull the shutters down on her world championship aspirations. This fight is forged on ambition. Two boxers who know victory is the only option. The very best reason to fight. Bring it on.

Nicolson vs Avila Full Card

Diego Pacheco vs Kevin Lele Sadjo

Gabriel Flores Jr vs Joe Cordina

Skye Nicolson vs Yuliahn Luna Avila

Ernesto Mercado vs Antonio Moran

Arturo Popoca vs Cesar Vaca Espinoza

Cheavon Clarke vs Anthony Hollaway

Sachery Sam vs Brandon Medina Guerrero

Cesar Olvera vs Victor Saravia

Nicolson vs Avila Prediction

Interestingly, these boxers share many of the same strengths. Both are more comfortable on the back foot, looking to out-jab aggressive foes and land shots on the counter. 

Their approaches to this work are different, however. Avila’s orthodoxy clashes with Skye’s flash. The former has read the manual, all tucked-elbows and forceful lefts, before uncorking the uppercut in close. Avila uses footwork to avoid the punches coming her way.

Nicolson uses head movement for this purpose. Relying on a pivot of the hips or a well-timed slip to keep her chin out of danger. Her southpaw jab is a fact-finding mission as she plots the punches needed to do the job. Patient, sometimes cautious, but often exhilarating when Nicolson puts her foot on the gas.

This will be a cagey one I think. Nicolson will be the aggressor, which is rare for her. Avila will be looking to land body shots during the fleeting pockets of time when these two are in close. But I reckon this will largely take on the look of an Olympic fencing match. A lot of standing off. A lot of plotting. Little in the way of furious fists. No blood, no thunder.

I can see Skye nicking this one at 1/16, but I reckon it will be a tad closer than the odds suggest.

Image: Melina Pizano/ Matchroom

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