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Back to boxing: Holm signs with Jake Paul‘s promotional company
Holly Holm kicks Raquel Pennington during a UFC 246 women's bantamweight mixed martial arts bout on July 18, 2020. Holm, a former UFC champion but also an inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, is returning to boxing after a 12-year hiatus.
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Holly Holm is coming back to the boxing ring.
Albuquerque’s Holm, who left boxing for MMA in 2013 after a Hall of Fame career in the sport, has signed a three-fight contract with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions and is scheduled to make her return to the ring on June 28 in Anaheim, California. She’s matched against Yolanda Vega (10-0, one knockout) of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico.
The announcement was made by MVP on Wednesday.
“This new chapter is going to be an exciting journey, and I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Holm said in an MVP news release. “Coming full circle back to boxing.”
An MVP news release announcing the Holm-Vega bout — 10 rounds at the 135-pound lightweight limit — noted that Vega also has signed with Paul’s organization. It did not deal with the duration of either fighter’s contract.
But Holm’s longtime agent, Albuquerque’s Lenny Fresquez, said Holm’s goal is to win a world title at lightweight. A victory over Vega, he said, would be the first step.
El Paso’s Stephanie Han (10-0, three KOs) holds the WBA lightweight title and might be a target for Holm.
Han is scheduled to defend the WBA belt on July 12 in her hometown. Though Han is still listed as fighting the main event on that card on boxrec.com, Albuquerque’s Legacy Promotions has been posting that Albuquerque’s Abraham Perez has been elevated to the main event. Han’s status is uncertain.
Holm (33-2-3, nine KOs) won almost too many world titles to count during her 11-year pro boxing career, but never one at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds. Her titles were won at 140, 147 and 154 pounds.
She was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2022.
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In MMA, Holm won the UFC bantamweight (135-pound) in 2015 and, with a couple of exceptions, has competed at that weight throughout her MMA career.
Of Holm’s MVP contract, Fresquez said, “It’s for a heck of a lot of money, more than she made in the UFC.”
Fresquez said Holm, 43, is not necessarily through with MMA. She remains under contract to the Global Fight League, an MMA promotion that has yet to stage its first event after some funding fell through. Holm asked for and received a release from her UFC contract last year after fighting under that organization’s banner from 2015-2024.
Fresquez said he obtained an exclusion from Holm’s GFL contract to allow her to pursue a second boxing career.
Paul’s company has been beefing up its women’s roster this week. Monday, MVP announced the signing of former world middleweight and super middleweight champion Savannah Marshall and WBC interim super lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron.
New York’s Amanda Serrano, the undisputed super welterweight (140-pound) champion, also is an MVP contract fighter. Serrano is scheduled to face Ireland’s Katie Taylor, who has beaten Serrano twice in highly competitive fights, in the main event of an MVP card at Madison Square Garden on July 11.
The June 28 main event matches Paul (11-1, seven KOs), a YouTube influencer-turned-boxer and now a promoter, against Mexico’s Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (54-6-1, 34 KOs), son of one of boxing’s most celebrated champions.
The card is scheduled to be streamed on DAZN, a subscription service.
