Stephanie Han retains WBA title over Holly Holm in disputed majority decision rematch

Stephanie Han retained her WBA lightweight championship against Holly Holm for the second time on Saturday, earning a majority decision in the main event of a Most Valuable Promotions show in El Paso, Texas. Two judges scored the bout 96-94 in Han’s favour, while a third saw it as a 95-95 draw — a result Holm wasted no time disputing.

“Honestly, I feel like I won that fight,” Holm said in her post-fight interview. “There’s always things, even in a win, that I want to do better, always. We always want perfection, but I really feel I won the fight, and that’s not any disrespect to Han at all. I have a lot of respect for her, it has nothing to do with that, I just feel that that fight was mine.”

Holm was not alone in her assessment. Former UFC rival Cris Cyborg added her voice to the dissent on social media, writing: “Boxing does what boxing does… [Holm] won that fight.”

The rematch had been arranged after their first championship meeting in January ended in unsatisfying circumstances. An accidental head butt opened a cut on Han’s forehead in the seventh round, forcing a technical decision stoppage. At the time of the stoppage, Han held a commanding lead on all three cards — 69-65, 69-64, and 68-65 — meaning Holm would have required a knockout to overturn the deficit.

This time the margins were considerably tighter, but the outcome was the same. Han, now 13-0, keeps her undefeated record and her title intact. Holm falls to 34-4-3, with both professional losses to Han now carrying a cloud of controversy.

Whether a third fight materialises remains to be seen, but the closeness of Saturday’s scoring — and the vocal pushback from Holm’s camp — ensures the rivalry is unlikely to be considered settled.