Caroline Dubois vs Elif Nur Turhan Unification Fight Closer
IBF lightweight champion Elif Nur Turhan has signed with Most Valuable Promotions, aligning her with WBC/WBO champion Caroline Dubois and WBA titleholder Stephanie Han on the same promotional roster. The move pushes a long-discussed Caroline Dubois vs Elif Nur Turhan unification fight closer than it has been in months, though it stops short of confirming one (BBC Sport).
Weeks before the signing was announced, Dubois said talks for a unification bout had already collapsed over money and that she expected to fight Han next instead (Sky Sports). That comment predates Turhan's move by roughly a month, and no Dubois-Turhan fight has been announced in the reports reviewed for this story.
Turhan is undefeated at 14-0 with eight stoppages and becomes the second fighter to move from Matchroom Boxing to MVP under a new strategic alliance between the two promotions, following Australian two-weight champion Skye Nicolson (BBC Sport). "Forces have been joined. As female boxers, we will now move forward with greater strength," Turhan said (BBC Sport).
Elif Nur Turhan joins MVP: how the division's promotional map shifts
Dubois holds the WBC and WBO lightweight titles. Turhan holds the IBF belt. Han holds the WBA belt. Turhan's signing means all three titleholders now share a promotional home, so MVP represents every reigning lightweight champion, though the belts themselves remain governed separately by the WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA, not by any promoter (BBC Sport; FIGHTMAG).
That alignment traces back to a strategic partnership MVP announced with Matchroom last month, built to create crossover opportunities for female fighters across both companies' cards (BBC Sport). Both promotions said in a joint statement that they would work together to "support Turhan through the next phase of her professional career" (ESPN). Sky Sports notes that having Dubois and Turhan under one banner should make negotiations "simpler" than before, though it stopped short of calling any fight finalized (Sky Sports).
MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian called Turhan "one of the most exciting fighters in boxing given her immense punching power and her relentless aggressive, pressure heavy style," adding that signing her "will allow us to make some of the most exciting fights in boxing" (BBC Sport). The addition gives Most Valuable Promotions' women's lightweight boxing lineup all four major belts for the first time.
Turhan and Dubois bring championship-level résumés
Turhan won the IBF title with a fifth-round knockout of previously undefeated Olympic gold medalist Beatriz Ferreira last December in Monaco (ESPN). She has made two successful defenses since, most recently a unanimous decision over Gabriela Tellez (Sky Sports), which FIGHTMAG places in June (FIGHTMAG).
Dubois sits at 13-0-1 with five knockouts after unifying the WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine belts with a unanimous-decision win over Terri Harper earlier this year, a fight in which she also dropped Harper (Sky Sports). The Ring Magazine belt is a respected honor, but it isn't one of the sport's four sanctioning-body titles, so it doesn't count toward a three- or four-belt total.
A Dubois-Turhan fight, if it happens, would combine the WBC, WBO and IBF straps. That would be a major unification, but not an undisputed championship, since Han's WBA belt would still be outstanding (Sky Sports).
Why the unification fight remains unconfirmed
Removing the promotional wall between the two champions doesn't erase the disagreement that stalled their fight in the first place. Last month, Dubois said unification talks had broken down because Turhan sought a fee Dubois called "ridiculous," comparing it to "retirement money" (Sky Sports).
"The amount that she asked for, it wasn't even a laugh out of the room," Dubois said. "She isn't about it. She thinks that she is something that she isn't." (Sky Sports)
In that same interview, Dubois said her expected next fight after her August title defense was against Han, not Turhan, and that she wanted it finalized before the end of 2026. "I know that I'm going to fight Stephanie Han after this and that's the plan for me. So at least her hand will just have to wait," Dubois said, adding that she is "owed three fights with MVP in a year" and intends to hold the company to that (Sky Sports).
Shared promotional infrastructure removes one obstacle. It doesn't resolve the financial disagreement Dubois described, and it doesn't override what she said publicly about her own priorities just weeks before Turhan's signing.
What has to happen before Dubois and Turhan can meet
Dubois has a fight to win first. She defends her WBC and WBO titles against unbeaten American Amelia Moore (4-0, 1 KO) on August 29 at the bp pulse LIVE arena in Birmingham, part of the MVPW-06 card headlined by Mikaela Mayer against Chantelle Cameron (BBC Sport; FIGHTMAG). A win would let Dubois carry both belts into any future negotiations with Turhan.
Han's recent form adds another layer of uncertainty. Sky Sports described her May rematch with Holly Holm as a "controversial" decision win that kept her WBA belt and unbeaten record intact, with two judges scoring the bout 96-94 in her favor and a third seeing it as a 95-95 draw (Sky Sports). FIGHTMAG, by contrast, reported the same bout as a majority draw (FIGHTMAG). Neither promoter has announced what's next for Han.
Whoever ends up holding the WBC, WBO and IBF belts would still need to face Han for the WBA title to complete an undisputed championship at 135 pounds. That step depends on sanctioning-body rules and a separate negotiation, not anything decided by this week's signing.
The immediate checkpoint is Dubois's August 29 defense against Moore. Until that bout is settled and terms with Turhan are agreed, the signing represents a path toward a unification fight, not confirmation that one has been made.