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AUSTRALIA’S DESLEY ROBINSON VS. CANADA’S TAMM THIBEAULT UNIFIED WORLD TITLE SHOWDOWN SET AS CO-MAIN EVENT OF MOST VALUABLE PROMOTIONS’ MVPW-05 ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 AT CARIBE ROYALE RESORT IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA, LIVE ON ESPN AND THE ESPN APP
AUSTRALIA’S DESLEY ROBINSON VS. CANADA’S TAMM THIBEAULT UNIFIED WORLD TITLE SHOWDOWN SET AS CO-MAIN EVENT OF MOST VALUABLE PROMOTIONS’ MVPW-05 ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 AT CARIBE ROYALE RESORT IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA, LIVE ON ESPN AND THE ESPN APP
MVP’s unified IBF and WBO middleweight world champion Desley Robinson defends her titles against MVP’s #1 contender, two-time Canadian Olympian, and amateur world champion Tamm Thibeault in just Thibeault’s fifth professional fight
MVP’s top contenders Shurretta Metcalf and Amanda Galle face off at 115lbs on main card
Tickets for MVPW-05 are on sale today at 11am ET on Ticketmaster
All media wishing to be credentialed to cover MVPW-05 must apply via the following form: MVPW-05 Johnson vs. Thorslund Credential Application
NEW YORK, NY – June 18, 2026 – Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) today announced that MVP’s and Australia’s unified IBF and WBO middleweight world champion Desley Robinson (12-3, 4 KOs) will make her next 10-round title defense against MVP’s #1 WBA, IBF, WBC and #2 WBO contender, 2x Canadian Olympian, and amateur world champion Tamm Thibeault (4-0, 3 KOs) in the co-main event of MVPW-05 on Saturday, August 8 at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, live on ESPN and the ESPN App. Robinson joins fellow Australian champion Cherneka Johnson as co-headliner, as Thibeault, one of the fastest-rising boxers in history from pro debut to #1 contender, now readies for her first world title challenge in just her fifth professional fight. Also joining the main card, MVP and Dallas, Texas’s former world champion and current WBO, IBF, and WBA #4 contender Shurretta Metcalf (15-5-1, 2 KOs) will face off with MVP and Ontario, Canada’s #7 IBF and #8 WBA contender Amanda Galle (12-1-1, 1 KO) in an 8-round super flyweight battle at 115lbs. Metcalf and Galle each look to prove themselves as top contender in the new weight division following their recent challenges against Cherneka Johnson for the undisputed bantamweight title. The fifth installment of MVP’s new year-round global platform for women’s boxing is headlined by MVP’s and Australia’s undisputed bantamweight world champion Cherneka Johnson (19-2, 8 KOs) vs. MVP’s and Denmark’s former unified champion and Boxrec’s #2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world Dina Thorslund (24-0, 9 KOs) in a potential Fight of the Year contender. MVPW on ESPN showcases the sport’s most elite female fighters with championship bouts on every card and will always feature a main card composed entirely of female fighters, with an undercard including a mix of female and male bouts. Tickets for MVPW-05 are on sale today at 11am ET on Ticketmaster. All media wishing to be credentialed for MVPW-05 must apply HERE.
Unified middleweight world champion Desley “Destroyer” Robinson has emerged as one of Australia’s top boxing talents. Originally stepping into the ring to improve her fitness, Robinson quickly proved she belonged at the elite level. Following over 50 amateur fights that saw her capture multiple Queensland and Australian titles, Robinson turned pro and earned her first title shot in just her seventh pro fight, resulting in a narrow majority decision loss against Lani Daniels in December 2023. Just one year later, Robinson rebounded in heroic fashion, fighting through a fractured foot to capture the vacant IBF female middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Kaye Scott in December 2024. She returned to the ring in April 2025 to unify the division, successfully defending her IBF belt and winning the vacant WBO title with a dominant performance against Chloe Chaos. Robinson, who fights out of Logan City, Queensland by way of Maranbah, Queensland, Australia, defeated challenger Logan Holler by second round TKO in her promotional debut on MVP’s Most Valuable Prospects 16 in October 2025, before returning with an emphatic win over Canada’s Mary Spencer on the main card of MVPW-03 live on ESPN in May 2026, earning the $20,000 Performance of the Night bonus for her outstanding victory. She is also a single mother of three children.
“This is the best fight that can be made in the middleweight division right now,” said Desley Robinson. “Tamm Thibeault is a two-time Olympian, an amateur world champion, and the number one contender for a reason. I’ve been waiting for a challenge like this. The best should fight the best, and on Saturday August 8 I’ll be ready to defend my unified world titles live on ESPN.”
MVP’s standout Tamm Thibeault is currently the #1-ranked WBA, #1 IBF, #1 WBO, and #4 WBC middleweight contender. Originally from Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada, Thibeault began her boxing journey at the age of nine, inspired by seeing her father, a former CFL player, knock out an opponent during a Provincial boxing tournament. Following in his footsteps, she took up boxing at age 12 and was inspired to compete for Canada while watching the first women’s Olympic boxing competition during the 2012 London Olympics. The 28-year-old middleweight, a southpaw standing 6 feet tall, forged an outstanding amateur career. A two-time Olympian, Thibeault made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where she advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s 75kg (165lb) event, matching Canada’s best-ever Olympic result in any women’s boxing event. She went undefeated until she returned to the Paris Olympics in 2024, earning gold medals at the 2022 Amateur World Championship, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the 2023 Pan Am Games. Thibeault, who speaks French, English, and Spanish, completed a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Concordia University in 2023, which she earned over seven years while competing. She currently lives in Sheffield, England, where she earned a one-year Master’s degree in urban design and urban planning while training at the renowned Steel City Gym. Thibeault made her pro debut while competing under men’s rules, three-minute rounds, on the main card of MVP’s Most Valuable Prospects 10 in December 2024, then returned to the ring in March 2025 as part of MVP’s first ever event in Canada, Most Valuable Prospects 11, where she again competed under men’s rules with three-minute rounds and won by knockout in the final second of the first round, proving again the impact of women competing with equal rules to men. Thibeault entered her third pro fight continuing to compete under equal rules over 8, three-minute rounds on the preliminary card of MVP's historic Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3 all-women's card against then-#1 contender Mary Casamassa, winning by TKO to become the #1 contender with both the IBF and WBA following the bout—one of the fastest-rising world title contenders in history. She most recently defeated Italy’s Christina Mazzotta by first-round TKO in September 2025.
“Saturday, August 8th can’t come soon enough. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, but more than anything, I feel ready. I’m so grateful to MVP for giving me this opportunity on my fifth fight to show what I’m truly capable of, and to become a unified world champion,” said Tamm Thibeault. “I’m preparing mentally and physically for a tough, experienced opponent, someone who knows what championship boxing looks like. I’m ready to go to war if that’s what it takes. This is not an opportunity I will let slip away.”
MVP’s Shurretta “Chiccn” Metcalf (14-4-1, 2 KOs). Metcalf has had to fight—both inside and outside the ring—all of her life. Born in Oak Cliff in Dallas, Texas, Shurretta grew up in a low-income area with her two younger siblings and hard-working single mom. A talented student, she was a standout basketball player and also excelled at track and field. She had her first son at 20 years old and her second son two years later. The single mom did a variety of jobs to survive and raise her two boys, the oldest of whom is autistic. To make money, Shurretta turned to underground boxing in 2012 and fought over 100 fights, sometimes fighting as often as twice a week. In 2016 she turned pro and hasn’t stopped moving forward since—winning her first world title in October 2024 at Madison Square Garden with a unanimous decision against then-IBF champion Miyo Yoshida. Metcalf returned to MSG to compete for the undisputed bantamweight world title against Cherneka Johnson in the preliminary card headliner of MVP and Netflix’s Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3 all-women’s mega-event in July 2025 and most recently defeated fellow top 118lb contender Krystal Rosado on MVP’s Most Valuable Prospects 16 in October 2025. Outside her boxing career, the industrious Metcalf owns and runs a boutique and salon, works as a personal trainer, and has a mobile bartending business. She is also launching her own line of workout clothes called Elite Essence.
“Champions don’t get built by taking easy fights. They get built by beating the best,” said Shurretta Metcalf. “Amanda Galle is a former world champion coming off the biggest fight of her career, and I respect what she brings to the ring. But I’ve already beaten undefeated fighters, world champions, and former world champions throughout my career, and after I beat her live on ESPN, the road to my second world title gets even clearer.”
MVP’s Amanda Galle was raised in a proud Italian family in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. She began her combat sports journey at six, earning a black belt in karate by 11 before beginning boxing and kickboxing. At 16, she scored a 28-second knockout in her boxing debut and went on to capture three Canadian national titles between 2009 and 2018, persevering through her mother’s battle with breast cancer and her own struggles with depression. Turning professional in 2019, Galle built an undefeated record while balancing her career with family, ultimately delivering the Canadian super bantamweight title to her mother’s hospital bed before her passing in 2022. Galle rebounded with a string of victories, overcoming a broken hand and capturing the IBO bantamweight world championship in December 2023, which she defended successfully in 2024. She signed with MVP in June 2025, and earned a unanimous decision win over Mexico’s Alondra Hernandez in her promotional debut on MVP’s Most Valuable Prospects 15 in September 2025. Galle most recently contended for the undisputed bantamweight world title against Cherneka Johnson on Jake vs. Joshua: Judgment Day in December 2025 in a bloody war that went to the scorecards.
“They say you're only as good as your last fight,” said Amanda Galle. “Well, the last time I stepped into the ring on Jake vs. Joshua, I won Performance of the Night! I'm back, live on ESPN, to remind everyone why and ready to put the 115lb division on notice to watch out for Amanda Galle."
“Desley Robinson vs. Tamm Thibeault is one of the most compelling championship fights that can be made anywhere in the sport today, matching a unified world champion with a two-time Olympian and amateur world champion who has accomplished something almost unheard of by rising to become the number one contender across multiple sanctioning bodies from just four professional fights,” said Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, co-founders of Most Valuable Promotions. “This is a true best-versus-best matchup between two world-class athletes in their prime. Shurretta Metcalf and Amanda Galle are both coming off challenges for the undisputed bantamweight championship and looking to prove they deserve another shot at a title, this time at 115lbs, adding another high-stakes matchup to the card. Combined with Cherneka Johnson vs. Dina Thorslund in the main event, MVPW-05 delivers three elite fights with major championship stakes and implications. MVP is continuing to build the premier home for the biggest fights in women’s boxing, live on ESPN on Saturday, August 8.”
MVPW-05 is produced and marketed by MVP and promoted by MVP and Boxlab Promotions.
For more information, follow on X via @MostVPromotions, on Instagram via @MostValuablePromotions.
About MVP
Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) was founded in August 2021 by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian with a fighter first ethos. Since inception, MVP has produced 30 live boxing events, currently promotes nearly 60 fighters, 16 world champions, and 26 top contenders.
MVP has led boxing’s evolution in the streaming era through partnerships with the world’s leading platforms. In November 2024, MVP’s Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson and Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 2 was the first-ever live professional sports event streamed on Netflix. Paul vs. Tyson shattered records, becoming the most-streamed sporting event of all time with 125 million live viewers worldwide. MVP went on to partner with Netflix twice in 2025 for MVP’s Taylor vs. Serrano 3 and Jake vs. Joshua: Judgment Day.
Today, MVP is the global home of women’s boxing. MVP’s Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano in 2022 was the first female fight to headline Madison Square Garden, while Taylor vs. Serrano 2 in 2024 saw 74 million viewers globally on Netflix and became the most-watched professional women’s sports event in US history with 47 million AMA in the US. Their 2025 trilogy on Netflix topped an all-women’s megacard that set the official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the most world championship belts ever contested on a single fight card, male or female, with 17 world titles, earning nearly 6 million viewers globally.
About ESPN
ESPN offers its full suite of networks and services directly to fans on the ESPN App, providing more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, including more than 47,000 live events per year, on-demand replays, industry-leading studio shows and original programming, and more. The ESPN App gives fans a unique viewing experience that includes multiview and synchronized two-screen viewing options, swipe-able vertical video and a personalized SportsCenter For You, as well as integrated game stats, ESPN Fantasy sports, betting odds and information from DraftKings, sports merchandise, and more. These features are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a pay TV package. Bundling options available for fans include a limited time offer for the ESPN DTC Unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99/month for the first 12 months. For more visit stream.espn.com.
