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Andreas Hale
Multiple Authors
Ring announcer Lupe Contreras had finished reading the scorecards, announcing Oshae Jones the victor by split decision, but Jones’ reaction showed more disbelief than happiness. Two judges had scored last July’s fight for Jones, one by eight rounds to two, another six to four, but the third had given her opponent, Ella Carranza, every round.
On Saturday, Jones will look to make her superiority clear to all when she puts her IBF junior middleweight title on the line in a rematch against Carranza in the main event of Most Valuable Promotions’ MVPW-04 at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET). In the co-main event, WBC featherweight champion Tiara Brown defends her belt against undefeated Hannah Rapp.
Jones and Brown, two of the world champions signed recently by MVP, are making their promotional debuts. Although both are undefeated, they believe they have something to prove, albeit for very different reasons. Jones is aiming to get a clearer result this time against Carranza, while Brown wants everyone to know her title win over Skye Nicolson in March 2025 wasn’t a fluke and she’s worthy of pound-for-pound rankings consideration.
“I definitely didn’t want this fight,” Jones (9-0, 3 KOs), a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, told ESPN. “When I beat her the first time, I wasn’t 100% but I got the job done, and that’s all that should matter. But now it’s a big rematch, and that motivates me to blow her out of the water.”
Jones, 28, said personal issues and a change of trainers — she went from Bozy Ennis to work with Rasheen Jefferson for that fight — affected her performance against Carranza (11-2, 3 KOs), but she felt she did more than what was necessary to earn the victory.
“The judge [Edward Kanner] that gave Carranza every round was the same judge that scored the fight for [Femke] Hermans [in 2024, when Jones won by split decision 97-93, 96-94 and 93-97], and I hope I don’t have to deal with him for this fight,” Jones said. “He’s making it harder for me because fights that should be unanimous decisions are now split decisions. I don’t know what he has against me, but it affected how people saw me.”
Prior to the back-to-back split decisions, Jones had stopped her previous three opponents. She expects to start a new knockout streak against Carranza on Saturday.
“I don’t think this will go 10 rounds,” Jones said. “I’m going to do what I have to do to set up the knockout.”
In the co-main, Brown isn’t necessarily out to prove something against her opponent, but she feels she has to prove to the world that she’s the elite fighter that she looked like in her win over Nicolson.
“I beat Skye Nicolson, and the world swept it under the rug,” Brown, 38, told ESPN. “I felt let down after that win. I went to Australia, beat their golden goose and didn’t receive my flowers. I don’t complain about much, but I deserved better.”
Brown (20-0, 11 KOs) didn’t turn pro until she was 28 but has been excellent over the past decade. A former officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and the Fort Myers Police Department in Florida, Brown expects to have a lot of support against Rapp (8-0-1, 5 KOs) on Saturday fighting in the state she served.
“I have so many family members and friends who have never seen me fight, and now I’m on ESPN and close to home,” Brown said. “I trained for Hannah Rapp like she’s the best fighter in the world and I’m a nobody. I left no stone unturned for this camp. I’m going to stamp my name on Saturday night.”
Both Jones and Brown are aware that they will have more eyeballs on their fights than in the past with the endorsement of MVP’s co-founder Jake Paul and being on ESPN. And with the extra attention comes a desire to impress. Both want to ensure there are no questions why MVP signed them.
“This is my debut with MVP on ESPN, so I want to make it look good,” Jones said. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but I’m going to make it look easy by using all of my tools to get her out of there.”
For Brown, who used to show up to MVP media workouts hoping to one day be signed, she plans to have a memorable performance that will propel her closer to her dream to be one of the new faces of women’s boxing.
“You will see more of me because I have never really had to shift gears in a fight,” Brown said. “I have so many tools in my toolbox and tricks up my sleeve that I haven’t shown yet. I’m shifting gears on Saturday and I’m going to try to get Hannah Rapp out of there.
“I’m here now, and no one is going to make me go anywhere. No one is going to push me to the side. I won’t allow it. I grind 24/7, 365 days out of the year, and I will not be stopped by anyone.”
