Samantha Worthington won the women’s interim WBA junior welterweight title – but it didn’t come easy.
Worthington won a majority decision over Victoire Piteau on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The scores were 99-91, 96-94 and 95-95.
Worthington – a 29-year-old from Lexington, Kentucky, and now fighting out of Folsom, California – was accompanied to the ring by Claressa Shields, her co-promoter, along with Salita Promotions. Worthington was noticeably bigger than Piteau, landing the more effective punches to start the fight.
The two began to trade hooks in the second round, with Piteau getting the worst of the punches. Worthington was weaponizing a high output, along with being the bigger puncher, which dictated the early momentum. Piteau adjusted by throwing straight punches in the third and fourth rounds. Worthington targeted the body of Piteau relentlessly, as Worthington’s size and power proved difficult for Piteau to overcome.
By the sixth round, the fight changed with Worthington’s work rate and the snap on her punches. Piteau outworked Worthington in the seventh, continuing her rally into the eighth and ninth as Worthington’s punches weren’t as thudding as in the earlier rounds. The final round saw the two fighters exchange punches in 50-50 exchanges.
Worthington now holds the interim WBA title, with the outright title being held by the undisputed junior welterweight champion Katie Taylor.
Worthington improved to 12-0 (7 KOs), and Piteau, despite a valiant effort, fell to 14-3 (2 KOs).
Former junior middleweight titleholder Tony Harrison, of Detroit, had to get off the canvas to win his middleweight debut, defeating Edward Diaz of El Congo, Dominican Republic, via a 10-round unanimous decision in the co-feature. The scores were 96-93, 98-91 and 97-92.
Harrison, 34, showed ring rust in the bout, especially in Round 9 when Diaz dropped him with a right hand. The bout served as Harrison’s first fight in two and a half years, after his stoppage loss to Tim Tszyu in Australia.
Harrison improved to 30-4-1 (21 KOs), while Diaz, 34, dropped to 15-7 (12 KOs).
Heavyweight Pryce Taylor, of Brooklyn, New York, defeated Robert Simms, of Saginaw, Michigan, via an eight-round unanimous decision. Scores were 80-72 on all three cards. Taylor, 28, improved to 9-0 (6 KOs), while Simms, 41, slipped to 12-5-1 (3 KOs).
In the opening bout, women’s featherweight Caroline Veyre, of Montreal, won a 10-round unanimous decision over Licia Boudersa, of Lille, France. The scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92.
Veyre, 36, is now 10-1, while the 32-year-old Boudersa fell to 24-3-2 (4 KOs). The bout was a WBC featherweight final eliminator. With the win, Veyre is now the mandatory contender for the WBC title held by Tiara Brown.
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
