Mikiah Kreps improved her professional boxing career 2-0 on Thursday night at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, sailing to a unanimous win over Brittany Sims in a four-round bout.
Kreps (2-0, 1 Ko), who fought for the first time in 13 months, started slowly but picked up speed the entire time. Kreps controlled the fight early on with her left jab and left hook. From round three, Kreps lowered the boom, and when she added her right hand to the mix, Sims (1-2, 1 KO) had no response to the offensive attack. Sims endured a brawl that would have made anyone negative, but held on despite the one-way traffic to end the fight on his feet.
Kreps said she hadn’t felt any ring rust despite the long pause.
“Over the course of the laps I felt that I was doing better,” said Kreps. “I knew I hit her with some hard shots.”
Kreps missed weight for her fight in May but had no such problems this time. She weighed 120.8 pounds, well below the 122 pound mark. Sims would lose weight, however, so at the request of her and her team, the combat contract was revised to a weight limit of 124 pounds. The extra pounds didn’t seem to help Sims at all, as Kreps dominated from the opening bell.
“I’m so happy with the way Mikiah looked tonight,” said Jerry Cesarez, their manager at First to Fight Management. “I’m relieved that we got this fight out of the way. There is no way back.”
According to Cesarez, he will team up with Kreps promoter Lou DiBella in the first quarter of 2022 to get a fight somewhere. DiBella is also on board with this plan. Kreps, who fought her first two fights in four-round action, is likely to move on to six-round fights sooner rather than later.
“She looked like she could have done a few more laps tonight,” said DiBella. “She dominated and she made the rounds too. I was very pleased with what I saw.
“After tonight there is no turning back. She ended the year strong and we all know that she has championship talent. “
In the meantime, Kreps will take a modest hiatus during Thanksgiving before starting the initial preparations for whatever lies ahead.
“I’ll be back at the gym very soon,” she said. “Honestly, I feel like I could fight tomorrow if I had to.”
