Dina Thorslund reveals why it's been such a difficult road to undisputed

Dina Thorslund vs Cherneka Johnson post-fight press conference quotes

Most Valuable Promotions’ (MVP) MVPW-05 took place on Saturday, August 8, at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, delivering a historic night of championship boxing live on ESPN and the ESPN App.

Headlined by MVP and Denmark’s undefeated Dina Thorslund (25-0, 9 KOs), who claimed undisputed bantamweight champion status with a dominant unanimous decision victory (100-90 x3) over MVP and Australia’s Cherneka Johnson (19-3, 8 KOs), the event also saw MVP’s two-time Canadian Olympian and amateur world champion Tamm Thibeault (5-0, 3 KOs) make history with a unanimous decision victory (100-90 x3) over MVP’s Desley Robinson (12-4, 4 KOs) to become the unified WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine middleweight world champion in just her fifth professional fight.

With the victory, Thibeault became the fastest professional boxer in history to win a Ring Magazine world title, surpassing Lauren Price’s previous record of seven professional fights.

Thorslund and Thibeault were each recognized for their dominant championship performances, splitting MVP’s $20,000 Performance of the Night bonus presented by Caribe Royale Resort. The card also featured MVP’s Amanda Galle (13-1-1, 1 KO), who earned a commanding unanimous decision victory (78-74, 80-72 x2) over fellow MVP fighter and former IBF bantamweight world champion Shurretta Metcalf (15-6-1, 2 KOs) in Galle’s first outing at 115 lbs.

At the press conference following the fights, Thorslund, Thibeault, Galle, and MVP’s Head of Boxing Mike Leanardi reflected on a legendary night of victories and performances at MVPW-05. For more information, follow on X via @MostVPromotions

MIKE LEANARDI

On Thibeault becoming unified WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine middleweight world champion in her fifth professional fight: It's not a surprise to me that she was able to do this in her [fifth] fight. Honestly, I think Tamm [Thibeault] probably could have won a world title in her first or second fight depending on the opponent. Obviously there's a maturation process getting there. 

On Thibeault’s road to becoming unified: She [Tamm Thibeault] was supposed to fight in April, as you know. Her opponent had a visa issue. So, it would have been one more fight than this, but still, she's the real deal. She's a special fighter.

DINA THORSLUND

On her journey to becoming undisputed: I had a miscarriage. I had to give up my titles. Now I have a friend in the hospital. I have a son who didn't want to be with me because I'm hangry. So, it's been a lot. It really has. But when you're standing here, it's all coming together and has been worth it. 

On collecting belts: I have been collecting belts for many years. I'm undefeated as well and have been world champion for seven years, but everyone has been avoiding me. So it's been difficult to collect them all.

On accomplishing her dream: I love the sport. I've been here for so many years, and I worked my ass off to get here. This has been the dream all the way. 

On what her win means to her: Every belt has been satisfying, and when I was unified as well, but because of this whole year, this has just been the greatest satisfaction. It's the past year looking back that's made it so much bigger than the other things. Especially with Raven [Chapman], it's more than boxing. It's honoring a friend and honoring the connection we have and the work we did together. 

On showing her improvement since her last fight vs. Almudena Alvarez in January 2026: I really wanted to show I'm back at the top level because my last fight, my comeback fight in January, wasn't good. Like it wasn't me, and I felt that something was wrong. 

On thanking her supporters: Thank you, and it's been an amazing evening. I just hope everyone enjoyed the fight because Cherneka [Johnson] brought the fire and I brought the fireworks, as I said. It was just amazing being up there.

On feeling relieved: It was just overwhelming relief that everything has been worth it. The work I did, the energy I put into it, and the sacrifices I made,

On being signed to MVP: MVP has been good to me all the way and treated me well. It's been an amazing journey, even just seeing from the outside when I was not fighting. 

TAMM THIBEAULT

On if she thought she’d become unified champion after five professional fights: Most people don't know this, but as women when we box, we're told to get an education. We're told to think of plan B. We're told to think very quickly about a life after boxing, and this is just as an amateur because the opportunities aren't there. But now that's significantly different. So I didn't think I'd be here this fast, but I'm very grateful. 

On her experience going into the bout: I have a significant amount of boxing experience, and that counts for something. Also, me being the type of person I am, I don't go into things unprepared.

On MVP’s impact on her career trajectory: Do you know what's crazy is that before MVP, women's boxing was different. The opportunities and the visibility weren't the same. So for me, Olympic boxing was it because that's where I thought the prestige was. Since I've been on the platform with MVP, it's kind of allowed me to have new dreams. So to answer your question, no, I didn't think it would happen this quick. I didn't think that this was possible. It's only possible because we have MVP here putting us on a platform and allowing us to dream big.

On being headbutted during the bout: I've been headbutted before, but this one kind of sucked. It was a lot of blood, and I was like, "Oh, well, suck it up, girl." 

On if Claressa Shield might be next for her: What's next for me is to go home, be with my animals, be with my other half. I think I'm going to get some rest, and I'm going to evaluate and see what's next for me.

On inspiring the youth: I hope that I can continue to inspire people and young women. I am very aware of the impact that I can have on little girls or little boys. That's why I carry myself the way that I do. I want to make people proud, and I want people to see boxing as something that they could get into and something that's attainable.

On her courageous nature: I'm someone who is brave. I don't do things and think, "Oh, yeah, it's going to be easy." I do things I'm thinking, "Oh my god, this is going to be so hard, but I'm going to do it anyway." I think that's what courage is. Just to step up to the plate and step up to the challenges even though it might seem a bit big and crazy sometimes.

On thanking her supporters: First and foremost, I want to say thank you to everybody who's helped me on this journey so far. For the people who are here, the people who weren't here today, I wouldn't have been able to do what I did today without that support, and I am forever grateful.

AMANDA GALLE

On her thoughts on her performance vs. Metcalf: As soon as we got out of the ring, I said to my corner that it was my worst pro performance. 

On her thoughts on Metcalf’s fighting style: She was an awkward dancing partner, and I was awkward as well. 

On advice from her corner: My corner told me from the beginning that it doesn't need to be pretty. Just get the job done. 

On why she decided to fight at 115 lbs: I wanted to open up more doorways for myself to go after world title matches. By

kind of steering towards 115, I just hope that this is going to give me the opportunity to see whatever doorway opens and I'll walk through it. This was a stepping stone, and I'm ready for whatever is next.

On her thoughts after fighting at 115 lbs: Watching every single thing that went into my system brought out the absolute best in me, and I really, really like this weight class.

On how she feels at 115 lbs: I felt amazing. I definitely felt like the bigger, stronger fighter. You guys saw tonight the undisputed world champion. They're big girls. I don't hulk up and fuel up to get to that size. There's strategy involved in boxing. One of them is sacrificing with the nutrition plan and staying away from pizza and pasta and all kinds of good stuff for weeks at a time.

On what's next for her: I'm going to do whatever MVP asks of me to achieve world title fights. I hope that is next and in the works. 

On if she’d do MMA: I have been doing karate since I was 6 years old. I do have my fourth-degree black belt. I do have a blue belt in jiu-jitsu. I can kick. I can punch. I can work the ground game. I would need to put a little bit more time in that. I’m open if the money was right, but it’s something I could foresee in the future, not at this moment, because my calling and my road right now is undisputed in the boxing world.