Stevie Morgan has taken all the necessary steps to not only ensure that she is next in line for Stephanie Han, but fully ready for the title opportunity.
Both boxers enjoyed separate wins to bookend January’s boxing schedule. El Paso’s Han, 12-0 (13 KOs), retained her WBA 135lbs title with a technical decision win over combat sports legend and two-sport champ Holly Holm on January 2 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Four weeks later, Tampa’s Morgan, 19-2 (17 KOs), lived up to her “Sledgehammer” ring moniker with a fourth-round knockout of journeywoman Simone Aparecida da Silva on January 30 in Memphis, Tennessee. The bout was a time-marking affair for Morgan, who is already the mandatory challenger to Han’s title. It was scheduled for eight, three-minute rounds – mirroring the 10, 3-minute round pace of Han’s abovementioned victory over Holm.
The opponent selection – while a suggested walkover on paper – was also calculated.
“Prior to this fight, the WBA notified us that we are the mandatory, ultimately fighting the winner of Han vs Holm which is now Stephanie Han,” Morgan explained to BoxingScene. “Da Silva was just a stay-busy fight so we didn’t sit on the shelf too long before that fight cultivated.
“She is a mutual opponent of Stephanie Han. Han went the distance with her and only a few people have been able to stop her.”
Among the few to beat da Silva without having to go the distance was record-setting, seven-division champ Amanda Serrano, who is also responsible for Morgan’s last defeat. The two met in a July 2024 non-title fight, as a replacement for Serrano’s originally scheduled rematch with Katie Taylor. Morgan stepped well up in class for the opportunity but was stopped in the second round at home in Tampa.
Five wins have followed, including a second-round stoppage of Crystal Garcia last July 12 in their WBA title eliminator. The early hit was part of a current four-fight knockout streak as she aims for her first major title shot.
Fighting three-minute rounds in her last fight was early preparation for the same expectation versus Han, who fights under the Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) banner. A staple of the company is equal rights, with an aggressive push for its roster of women in boxing to fight under the same terms as their male counterparts.
Morgan is perfectly fine with that direction and convinced that she is the ideal challenger to take down the unbeaten Han.
“We’ve watched Stephanie Han her whole career,” noted Morgan. “We know what styles she has problems with, we’ve seen her get knocked down a couple times and get up and win, get cut a few times and she still finds a way to win.
“But I believe if I put her down, she won’t be getting up.”
