Alycia Baumgardner challenges Elif Nur Turhan for IBF lightweight title at MVPW-07 in Arlington

Alycia Baumgardner will challenge undefeated IBF lightweight champion Elif Nur Turhan for the IBF title on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, headlining Most Valuable Promotions' MVPW-07 card live on ESPN. The unified junior lightweight champion moves up to 135 pounds seeking a second-division world title in a 10-round championship bout scheduled for three-minute rounds.

Who is fighting and what is at stake

Baumgardner (18-1, 7 KOs), promoted by Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions and based in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, enters as the WBO, IBF and WBA junior lightweight champion. She steps up from 130 pounds after a dominant run at that weight. Turhan (14-0, 8 KOs), Turkey's "Golden Turkish Warrior" and MVP's newest signee, won the IBF lightweight belt with a fifth-round TKO of previously unbeaten Olympic gold medalist Beatriz Ferreira in December 2025 and is making her third world-title defense.

In an ESPN feature published November 5, Baumgardner framed the move as her path to the top of women's boxing after Katie Taylor retired and Amanda Serrano booked a January farewell. "I didn't need to be passed the torch, I took it," she told ESPN's Brett Okamoto. "I'm taking the torch. I snatched it. Now, we're just building the stage for Alycia Baumgardner."

Styles and what Baumgardner expects

Baumgardner called Turhan the hardest hitter in the division and said she is taking a fight others avoided. "I'm fighting against somebody that nobody wanted to fight in this division," she told ESPN. "She's a wild fighter. She's a one-way fighter. It's all about making her miss, making her pay... We know that Nur Turhan gets hit. Can she take my punch?"

Speaking to Ring Magazine ahead of fight week, as reported by Bad Left Hook on November 3, Baumgardner said composure and timing are the keys: "I know that I'm really good with my timing, so punching in between her shots... Like this is boxing, it's not a fight. It's skill vs. whatever she got going on."

Turhan, in MVP's August announcement, said both fighters share a win-at-all-costs mindset and promised "a fierce, relentless battle where everything is left on the line."

What comes next if she wins

Baumgardner told ESPN a win opens lightweight options, including WBC champion Caroline Dubois and WBA champion Stephanie Han. On Ring Magazine she said she expects to fight the winner of Han–Dubois toward undisputed: "Once we beat Turhan we have to see who's next, is it Han or is it Dubois." Those bouts have not been booked.

MVPW-07 title stack

Per Most Valuable Promotions, MVPW-07 is a quadruple world-championship night on ESPN. Alongside Baumgardner–Turhan, the main card lists Tiara Brown defending the WBC featherweight title against Ellie Scotney, Skye Nicolson defending the WBC super bantamweight title against Miyo Yoshida, and Ramla Ali vs Mikiah Kreps for vacant WBO and IBF super bantamweight titles. ESPN lists the Baumgardner–Turhan main event window around 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

No change to the November 8 Arlington date has been reported as of ESPN's November 5 feature and MVP's card announcement.