Danielle Perkins backed up her words with her fists.
Perkins had said that WBA light heavyweight titleholder Che Kenneally had never truly dealt with a real challenge before – and then Perkins proved herself right, seizing the belt with a sixth-round knockout.
Perkins, a 43-year-old from Houston, Texas, was coming off a loss a year ago to Claressa Shields in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship. But now that Perkins is promoted by Shields – and given that Perkins came in between 175 and 178lbs in her recent bouts – it made sense for her to drop down to light heavyweight.
Kenneally, a 31-year-old from Australia, had won her first two bouts against foes who were making their debuts in the paid ranks. She then won a split decision over the 2-3 Sequita Hemingway and a unanimous decision over Hemingway in their rematch. In July 2024, in Kenneally’s most recent outing, she stopped the 14-4-3 Angie Paola Rocha to capture the WBA’s vacant belt at 175lbs.
A few days before the bout, Perkins told BoxingScene that she wanted to test Kenneally with pressure. Kenneally handled that pressure just fine in the first round, landing a right hand as Perkins came forward on two separate occasions, and another later on when her own back was against the ropes.
Perkins had much more success getting to Kenneally in the second, landing several clean punches. The start of the third saw Perkins find a home for her left cross, but Kenneally scored with a combo later on. Soon Perkins bulled Kenneally into the ropes, but Kenneally tagged her with several blows to the side of her head.
In the fourth and fifth rounds, Perkins did her best impression of Emanuel Augustus, doing drunken master moves before and after throwing punches, trying to break down Kenneally mentally.
Soon Perkins would break Kenneally physically.
In the sixth, the roles had reversed. Now it was Kenneally trying to rush forward on Perkins. She was unable to land, and she ran herself into a hard shot from Perkins that dropped Kenneally, who beat the count but didn't look to the referee as if she were able to continue. The end came one minute and 45 seconds into the round.
Perkins had also told BoxingScene beforehand that she wants to unify at light heavyweight.
Women’s boxing has some overlap in how the sanctioning bodies define the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. The WBA didn’t even have a heavyweight division until Shields fought Perkins. The WBC doesn’t have a light heavyweight division; anyone above 168lbs is considered a heavyweight.
“This weight class is small,” Perkins had said. “It doesn’t have an extended talent bench.”
One fight that Perkins may want to seek is with Sarah Scheurich, 7-0 (4 KOs), a 32-year-old from Germany who defeated Lani Daniels for the IBF belt in December.
In the opening bout of the main broadcast, heavyweight prospect Pryce Taylor dropped James Evans three times – and the referee once – en route to a fifth-round technical knockout win.
Taylor clearly took the first round, landing all of the notable shots: a left hook upstairs, two right hands, a hook to the body and an overhand right to the head, and a pull counter right hand. Taylor felt confident enough after the first round that he did an Ali Shuffle at the start of the second. Evans didn’t do enough during the ensuing three minutes to leave Taylor feeling any less confident.
In the third, Taylor sent out a jab and followed with a big right hand. Evans wasn’t badly hurt and tried to land something solid of his own on Taylor, to no avail. Taylor soon showboated again, dancing from side to side while the two fighters clinched.
In the fourth, Taylor absorbed a good right hand from Evans and kept coming forward. He landed a right hand on Evans and then dug to the body, forcing his foe to hold on. A Taylor left hook soon had Evans reeling. Two more hooks sent Evans falling into the ropes. The referee ruled that the ropes had held Evans up and called it a knockdown. Taylor soon dropped Evans for a second time. After Evans rose, Taylor continued his onslaught, and the ref either tripped or took a glancing blow that sent him to the canvas.
Taylor danced again at the end of the fourth round. And he pummeled Evans more at the start of the fifth. A left uppercut and a right hand from Taylor put Evans down on one knee. Evans beat the count but looked down out of the ring at his trainer. The referee decided that he’d seen enough – that Evans had taken enough – and called off the bout.
Taylor, a 29-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, moves to 11-0 (7 KOs). Evans, a 33-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, falls to 9-3-1 (7 KOs).
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
