NEW YORK, NY– Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) announced today that unified bantamweight world champion and BoxRec’s #1 pound-for-pound female boxer, Dina Thorslund (23-0, 9 KOs), has officially withdrawn from her highly anticipated title unification bout against MVP’s IBF bantamweight world champion Shurretta “Chiccn” Metcalf (14-4-1, 2 KOs) to welcome her second child. MVP’s 30-year-old Danish star was scheduled to make her global debut on the undercard of Taylor vs. Serrano 3 on Friday, July 11 at Madison Square Garden. The mega-event will feature the most world championship belts ever contested on a single fight card, male or female, with 21 world title belts contested across five fights on the card.
Replacing Thorslund in the world title bout will be MVP’s newest signee, reigning WBA bantamweight world champion Cherneka “Sugar Neekz” Johnson (17-2, 7 KOs). MVP and DiBella Entertainment, Inc., agreed to an arrangement, which allowed Johnson to enter into a multi-year promotional agreement with MVP. Born in Tauranga, New Zealand and fighting out of Gold Coast, Australia, Johnson is a two-weight world champion, currently the WBA bantamweight world champion and the former IBF super bantamweight world champion. She will face Metcalf in a 10-round world title showdown on the first-ever all-women’s professional boxing card at Madison Square Garden. This will be Johnson’s first bout in the United States and with a win on Friday, July 11th, she would become the first ever undisputed Australian champion in the four belt era.
Due to her pregnancy,Thorslund voluntarily relinquished her WBO Championship which was approved by the WBO and she requested and received the approval of the WBC to be designated as Champion in Recess. The now-vacant unified belts will remain on the line in addition to Johnson’s WBA and Metcalf’s IBF bantamweight titles, providing Johnson vs. Metcalf the opportunity to now battle for the undisputed crown at 118 lbs. on Friday, July 11. Upon her return to the ring Thorslund may request to be designated mandatory challenger to ensure she has the opportunity to challenge for the belts once she is ready.
“Life can be such a roller coaster, especially as a female boxer. I was really looking forward to this fight—the biggest moment of my career,” said Dina Thorslund. “Recently I found out I was pregnant, a curve I hadn’t expected, but a joyous one. Even though the decision was easy, the athlete in me is sad, as I SO wanted to stand in that ring and make history on Friday, July 11. But I’ll be back! The fire that MVP has lit in me only burns even stronger, and when I do step back in the ring, there will be another little person that I can fight for and be a role model for. I plan to show my child that nothing is impossible if you work hard enough for it. Thank you to MVP, my sponsors, friends, family – your support and encouragement touches me deeply and only motivates me more. I hope all the boxers have a fantastic evening. I will be cheering from the sidelines, and I can only encourage the rest of the world to either take the trip to Madison Square Garden and experience the magic, or to tune in to watch history being made, live on Netflix.”
“It’s a dream come true to fight at Madison Square Garden!” said Cherneka “Sugar Neekz” Johnson. “This feels like a true ‘pinch me’ moment, being part of an all-women’s card headlined by the incredible Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor. Not only will I be defending my title, but I’ll also become the undisputed champion! I’m truly looking forward to this next chapter—being part of Most Valuable Promotions, who are paving the way and shaping the future of women’s boxing. The magnitude of this moment isn’t lost on me, and I’m ready to rise to it.”
“I’m about to make history as the first undisputed bantamweight champion — and I’m doing it from Dallas, Texas,” said Shurretta Metcalf. “Nothing in my career has come easy, but every fight, every sacrifice led to this moment. I was built for this. My time is now, and I will rise and conquer. MVP is the best promoter in the game, and together, we’re making legacy happen. This isn’t just a fight — this is a statement.”
“We are thrilled for Dina on the new addition to her family and send her our heartfelt congratulations,” said MVP co-founders Nakisa Bidarian and Jake Paul. “She’s a champion inside and outside the ring, and we fully support her decision to step away at this time. At MVP, our athletes are family, and there will always be a place for Dina on our roster whenever she’s ready to return. In the meantime, we’re excited to welcome Australia’s own Cherneka “Sugar Neekz” Johnson to MVP as she steps in to face Shurretta Metcalf for the title of Undisputed with every belt in the 118 lbs. division on the line. All of Australia should be tuning in to see if Neekz can become the first Aussie Undisputed champion, male or female, in the four-belt era of boxing. Thank you to the WBO and WBC for their stewardship in this process. Taylor vs. Serrano 3 represents fighters from Ireland, Puerto Rico, US, UK, Australia, Canada, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico, and will see the most world championship belts ever contested on a single fight card, with 9 current world champions competing for a combined 21 belts, making history in boxing and as the first all-women’s card at MSG, live globally on Netflix.”
Johnson vs. Metcalf join a massively decorated card of women’s stars, topped by the trilogy megafight rematch of Ireland’s pound-for-pound great, undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) and Brooklyn’s Puerto Rican boxing trailblazer, unified featherweight world champion MVP’s Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs). In the co-main event, MVP’s reigning undisputed super featherweight champion Alycia “The Bomb” Baumgardner (15-1, 7 KOs) will face MVP’s undefeated WBA Interim world champion, Spain’s Jennifer Miranda (12-0, 1 KO), in a 10-round undisputed super featherweight championship fight contested at 130 lbs. Also on the main card, MVP and England’s unified super bantamweight champion Ellie Scotney (10-0) will face Mexico’s WBC super bantamweight world champion Yamileth “Yeimi” Mercado (24-3, 5 KOs) in a women’s unified championship fight at 122 lbs. Rounding out the main card is a highly anticipated super middleweight world title unification bout between MVP’s IBF champion Savannah “The Silent Assassin” Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs) and MVP’s WBO champion Shadasia “The Sweet Terminator” Green (14-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-round fight at 168 lbs.
On the preliminary card, MVP’s newly signed former undisputed champion and current WBC interim super lightweight champion Chantelle “Il Capo” Cameron (20-1, 8 KOs) will face Canada’s Jessica “The Cobra” Camara (14-4-1, 3 KOs) in a 10-round WBC interim title bout at 140 lbs, while MVP’s Somali-British boxer and activist Ramla Ali (9-2, 2 KOs) meets Brazil’s Lila Furtado (11-2, 2 KOs) in an 8-round super bantamweight fight at 122 lbs. Also featured will be MVP’s two-time Canadian Olympian and standout middleweight Tamm Thibeault (2-0, 1 KO), fighting under equal rules to men with three-minute rounds in an 8-round bout against top contender Mary Casamassa (6-0, 2 KOs) at 160 lbs.
Taylor vs. Serrano 3 is produced, marketed, and promoted by Most Valuable Promotions and distributed by Netflix.
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About Most Valuable Promotions (MVP)
MVP was founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian in 2021. With the mission to provide more creative control to fighters, MVP works to identify, grow, and maximize return for its own events and talent partners. One year into its inception, MVP was nominated as one of the prestigious Sports Breakthroughs of the Year in 2022 by Sports Business Journal. MVP has produced Jake Paul’s last six global pay-per-view events, including the recent Paul vs. Perry match. The promotion company also signed one of the most decorated Hispanic athletes of all time, Amanda Serrano, in its first year. Serrano and MVP made history in April 2022 when Serrano went head-to-head with Katie Taylor, marking the first female fight to headline at Madison Square Garden, earning a nomination for Event of The Year by Sports Business Journal. MVP made history again in November 2024 with Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson and Taylor vs. Serrano 2, the first-ever live professional sports event on Netflix, which became the most-streamed sporting event ever with 108 million live viewers globally. Co-founder Nakisa Bidarian was an executive producer of Paul vs. Tyson and the historic Triller Presents Mike Tyson v. Roy Jones Jr., the 8th most-bought pay-per-view event in history.
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