Meet Skye

Signet is in Yatala Queensland, sweating buckets as we square off with Aussie boxing star, Skye Nicolson in the ring. It’s a hellish thirty-eight degrees inside Skye’s family boxing gym, but we’ve got an ice-cold sweat standing opposite the featherweight world champion. As Skye takes a break from training and steps out of the ring, we pass her a towel and catch up on the last three years, her move to a professional career, the support of her fans and what she’s planning now after becoming a world title holder.

It’s July 2021 and Skye Nicolson’s heart is broken as she loses her quarterfinal bout at the Tokyo Games. It was Australia’s first chance at a boxing medal in over thirty years, and Skye narrowly missed out due to a controversial split decision. In her post-bout interview, a devastated and teary Skye expressed how much the fight had meant to her and apologised to her supporters saying, “Sorry I didn’t get the job done.” Skye’s heart-breaking reaction to her loss was beamed across every news bulletin in Australia. Although Skye felt she had let everybody down, her vulnerability had won the hearts of the nation, and the Australian public showered her with support. She vowed to return to boxing and prove what she knew she was capable of – “It's definitely not the end, I'm going to take some time and see what happens next”.

Upon returning home, instead of reconnecting with family and enjoying a well-deserved break after the fight, Skye was confined to mandatory hotel quarantine. To overcome the boredom, she took to sharing her daily routine with her fans on Instagram and the (not so great) isolation meals. In response, Skye’s fans (Signet included) showered her with goodies to try and help with the isolation. The sheer number of deliveries exceeded anything she could have imagined or even eaten. It reached a point where the amount of hot food, desserts and care packages sent to her room, became a challenge for the hotel staff. As a result, her media narrative shifted from "Star's heartbreak after loss" to "Aussie Boxer's Instagram post causes hotel chaos." It was clear how popular Skye had become and how much support she had gained in her home country.

After doing some soul searching in the following months, Skye made the tough decision to turn her back on an amateur career (and her Olympic dream) for the benefit of knowing she could try and take on the world’s best with a professional career. She had let go of her old dreams in hope of chasing something even bigger. Skye relocated to the UK and set about establishing herself in the pro boxing scene. The move skyrocketed (pun intended) her to new heights starting her career with an impressive 9-0 undefeated before she went on to take the World Champion title for fight number 10.

"It was the start of my new career and journey. It’s been a whirlwind since. I'm 10-0 now and the featherweight champion of the world."

“I turned professional in March of 2022, following Tokyo in 2021. My debut took place in San Diego, California. For an Australian fighter to be making their professional debut in the United States is already a really big achievement. I challenged a local San Diego girl - she was undefeated as well, and I had a comfortable win. It was the start of my new career and journey. It’s been a whirlwind since. I'm 10-0 now and the featherweight champion of the world. I've been dreaming of this moment since I took that first leap in signing a professional contract.”

For fight number ten, the seemingly unstoppable Skye was slated to go up against the undisputed Puerto Rican champion, Amanda Serrano. Unfortunately, the former champion decided to relinquish the title following a dispute with the World Boxing Council. Boxing pundits suggested Serrano could see the potential of losing to an in-form Nicolson and would rather relinquish the title without the embarrassment of a loss. Although disappointed, Skye found herself a new challenger in Denmark’s Sarah Mahfoud who she unanimously defeated for the vacant title.

“I fought and defeated a very good opponent from Denmark. This is the first step towards becoming the undisputed champion of the world. I've got belts to collect, and the featherweight title will be the first of many.”

Skye hopes that an Australian woman holding a boxing world title could help grow the support for women's boxing in Australia, much like the Matilda’s efforts did for women’s football with the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

"I was just a little girl from Queensland who had big dreams, and I've chased them, and I'm so close now to achieving everything I ever thought could ever be possible."

“I want to do for boxing what the Matilda’s did for women’s football in Australia. I want to prove that girls can do anything they set their mind to. That they can be amazing at anything. I was just a little girl from Queensland who had big dreams, and I've chased them, and I'm so close now to achieving everything I ever thought could ever be possible. I have so many ‘pinch me’ moments where I just can't believe this is my life, but with hard work and dedication, I feel like girls need to know that they really, truly can achieve anything.”

As Skye continues to chase her dreams, she embraces her status of Aussie role model and the face of women’s boxing. “It's so special to me. I get to inspire the next generation of Australian girls and be the face of women’s boxing. We’re really putting Australia on the map every time I get to fight, and my ultimate goal is to bring big fights to home soil and to have these amazing world title fights here for the Australian fans.”

“I think it's so important for Australian grown brands to support Australian athletes. Especially ones that have done it from the ground up. Signet was behind me when I was chasing my amateur dream and now, they are there for my pro boxing career. It’s important to know you’ve got people who have your back when you’re going into the ring.”

Signet is proud to support Skye Nicolson as a member of Team Signet. Join us as we get behind her, the rest of the team, and over 60,000 Aussie businesses all chasing their own dreams.