In one of the biggest upsets on Sunday’s card at the Little Caesars Arena, Houston native Danielle Perkins claimed the WBA light heavyweight world title with a sixth-round TKO over Australia’s Che Kenneally.

The end came at the 1:45 mark of Round 6, when Perkins’ relentless pressure and heavy-handed combinations proved too much for the previously unbeaten champion. A former professional basketball player, Perkins executed a disciplined game plan built on steady forward movement and calculated aggression. From the early rounds, she cut off the ring effectively, forcing Kenneally into exchanges that favored the challenger’s power.

The decisive sequence was the culmination of sustained punishment. Trapped along the ropes and absorbing clean, unanswered shots, Kenneally left the referee little choice but to wave it off.

At 43 years old, Perkins raises her record to 6-1, capturing her first world title and establishing herself as a force at 175 pounds. Kenneally, meanwhile, suffers the first defeat of her professional career, falling to 5-1 after a failed first defense of the belt she won last year.