{"id":846029,"date":"2026-08-06T21:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T21:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/846029\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T21:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T21:28:12","slug":"boxing-news-2026-cherneka-johnson-v-dina-thorslund-fight-desley-robinson-australian-world-title-champions-exclusive-sponsors-and-prize-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/846029\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing news 2026, Cherneka Johnson v Dina Thorslund fight, Desley Robinson, Australian world title champions, exclusive, sponsors and [prize money"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cherneka Johnson is Australia\u2019s first, and to date only, four-belt unified world boxing<\/a> champion.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also a glamorous Gold Coast local with a popular OnlyFans account and almost half a million followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\"Cherneka<\/p>\n

Cherneka Johnson and Shurretta Metcalf pose in front of MVP boss Jake Paul.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

She\u2019s about as marketable as they come but, bizarrely, she heads into Sunday\u2019s world title fight without a single financial sponsor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to plug myself here, if anyone wants to become a financial sponsor, (you are) more than welcome to reach out to my manager,\u201d Johnson grins as she chats to nine.com.au ahead of her bout with Dina Thorslund.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old is, in fact, one of two Aussie world champions fighting on the Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) card in Orlando, Florida.<\/p>\n

Desley Robinson holds the IBF and WBO middleweight belts, and can add The Ring Magazine\u2019s title to her cabinet if she beats Tamm Thibeault.<\/p>\n

They hold six world titles between them and are co-headlining a major card in the states. They are two of Australia\u2019s most successful current athletes.<\/p>\n

But the lack of a proper sponsor on Johnson\u2019s shorts highlights the reality of the sport\u2019s stature Down Under.<\/p>\n

Tim Tszyu<\/a> hasn\u2019t held a world title for two years but his fight with Errol Spence Jr last month created more buzz<\/a> than Sunday\u2019s two genuine champions will this week. Same deal when Jai Opetaia<\/a> defends his world title in September.<\/p>\n

To be fair, the Tszyu hype is heavily pushed by his Aussie promoters No Limit, with a lot of help from his surname.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously credit to Tim and what he\u2019s done, but he\u2019s got the last name, and obviously that sells tickets.\u00a0There is a lot of pressure on him to live up to that name too,\u201d Robinson, 38, told nine.com.au from Orlando.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I do reckon we need a bit more exposure, a bit more recognition for what we\u2019ve done because we\u2019ve got undisputed and unified champions who are women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already hard enough as women in the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Desley Robinson and Cherneka Johnson with their world title belts.\u00a0Most Valuable Promotions<\/p>\n

Johnson, who last year beat Shuretta Metcalf to win all the bantamweight belts and make Australian boxing history, agrees it\u2019s been hard to make a splash with the public – and media – back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the media probably not so much (attention). Myself and Desley are female world champions, I don\u2019t think we get as much recognition,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example when Tim recently fought, my feed and my socials, everyone was talking about Tim. Not that it\u2019s a bad thing, but I don\u2019t think we get the recognition that we could get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson was eager to point out she has several businesses who help her out with services and products, ensuring she\u2019s \u201cnot out of pocket\u201d.<\/p>\n

She is also earning considerably more from her fights these days than she was prior to signing with MVP, the promotional company headed by Jake Paul and his business partner Nakisa Bidarian.<\/p>\n

While her OnlyFans content would have once generated more income, Johnson says her earnings from boxing finally outweigh it.<\/p>\n

Last year she revealed her goal to fight for a seven-figure purse. While Sunday\u2019s fight is \u201cnot there yet\u201d, Johnson reckons it isn\u2019t far away.<\/p>\n

\"Cherneka<\/p>\n

Cherneka Johnson celebrates becoming undisputed world champion.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cI still have high hopes that (if) the right fights happen, the right location, the right match-up, I do believe that is something that\u2019s possible. You\u2019ve got to dream high, so I\u2019m still doing that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess if I fight once a year, you can\u2019t really survive. Now I\u2019m with MVP I\u2019m able to (fight more often).<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone knows what I\u2019m capable of. I think this fight will really solidify the champion status, and what I bring to the fighting world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sponsorships is a hard one. Cost of living these days is crazy expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The financial reality hits home harder for someone like Robinson, who is a single mother of three kids. The MVP business model means more money is finding its way to the fighters, and specifically women boxers.<\/p>\n

MVP boss Bidarian told nine.com.au he plans to bring a fight card to Australia<\/a> at some stage, which could feature Paul himself competing.<\/p>\n

If it happens, Johnson and Robinson are keen to be involved, as will fellow Aussie fighters Ebanie Bridges and Skye Nicolson, who are both MVP stablemates.<\/p>\n

\"Ebanie<\/p>\n

Ebanie Bridges weighs in for a fight.\u00a0nna\\sbrunsdon<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot more people have been seeing what we\u2019re doing, and that has been the question everyone keeps asking – when are you guys coming to Australia (to fight),\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we started in Australia then we\u2019ve come over here. But I think it will sell out when it comes to Australia, it will be huge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did amateurs with Cherneka, so growing up, seeing each other\u00a0fight in the amateurs, you kind of think that\u2019s it. Now we\u2019re on the world stage and world champions. We\u2019ve both seen each other\u2019s journeys, we have fought in amateurs on the same cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unreal, I think it\u2019s really good. Australian boxing doesn\u2019t get the recognition it deserves, and especially having two women who have really pushed and busted our butts to get there, it\u2019s good for Australia to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson says she will make the case for Gold Coast to host the inaugural MVP card Down Under.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s card will be broadcast on Fox Sports in Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cherneka Johnson is Australia\u2019s first, and to date only, four-belt unified world boxing champion. She\u2019s also a glamorous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":846030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-846029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}