Stephanie Han Defeats Holly Holm in WBA Lightweight Fight

In a closely contested rematch for the WBA women's lightweight championship, Stephanie Han retained her title with a majority decision victory over Holly Holm on Saturday night in El Paso, Texas. The result, which came before a sold-out crowd at the County Coliseum, sparked immediate debate and disappointment from the challenger and many observers.

Two judges scored the 10-round bout 96-94 in favor of Han, while a third judge scored it a 95-95 draw. The decision was met with vocal disagreement from Holm, a former UFC bantamweight champion who was seeking to become a four-time boxing world champion. In her post-fight interview, Holm expressed her belief that she had done enough to win. She stated that while she respects Han, she felt the fight was hers and that she did not believe Han had won six of the ten rounds.

The controversy was amplified by punch statistics cited by some reports, which indicated Holm out-landed Han in total punches. The fight was a rematch of their January encounter in Puerto Rico, which ended in the seventh round due to an accidental head clash that caused a cut on Han; that bout went to the scorecards, with Han winning by unanimous technical decision.