NEW YORK — Alycia Baumgardner was throwing slower punches toward the end, looking like she’d literally thrown every punch she had. And in some ways, perhaps she had.
The three-belt junior lightweight titlist had already knocked down Elhem Mekhaled two times and come close to a third and now, all she needed to do was close out the fight to get her dream — an undisputed championship.
And when the scorecards came out, 99-89, 99-89, 98-90, Baumgardner saw her dream realized: undisputed junior lightweight champion. In the co-feature Saturday night at a packed Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, Baumgardner came out living up to her “The Bomb” nickname. She landed massive shot after massive shot in the first three rounds and looked like she might get a third-round stoppage.
“You know when you hit hard, you know, you throwing bombs in there, you get a little, you know, you gotta get that back,” Baumgardner said in the postfight ring interview. “But again, you know, I listened to my corner, I used my jab, I let that be the dictator on the round. And again, I just use my jab and punched off that.”
But Mekhaled (15-2, 3 KO) held on in the round and, eventually, for the rest of the fight. It was the 31-year-old Parisian who looked stronger in the final three rounds, including appearing to stun Baumgardner once, though she didn’t do enough to score a knockdown of her own.
Instead, Baumgardner (14-1, 7 KO) continued to push on her own, landing just enough shots to keep every round close and to stop Mekhaled from gaining too much momentum. Baumgardner, who was born in Fremont, Ohio, and lives in Detroit, said after the fight that she had started her period Saturday, so “I dug deep” to get through the bout.
“That should tell you that women can do it all,” she said.
“I showed discipline and grit. Hard work,” Baumgardner said. “You know, I had to fight who I had to fight and I got here and I came out successful.”
Baumgardner said she wants big fights going forward, particularly mentioning undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor.
“I want that challenge,” Baumgardner said. “I want to challenge myself. That’s the only way I’m going to know where I am and how I can be better. And I want that.”
