By: Hans Themistode
Unified Lightweight champion Katie Taylor had been preparing for the fight of life. The undefeated Olympic gold medalist was set to take on seven division world champion Amanda Serrano in what was being called the biggest fight in women’s boxing history.
Making big fights however, has never been easy in the sport of boxing, and with COVID-19 still rampaging through most of the world, Taylor vs Serrano became one of its latest casualties.
Still, even with the deadly virus throwing a monkey wrench in Taylor’s plans, promoter Eddie Hearn is hard at work for a more than worthy replacement.
“We are working hard on the Taylor versus Persoon rematch for August 22,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “Katie wants the biggest fights out there and when Serrano pulled out, Katie immediately asked about the Persoon rematch.”
Throughout Taylor’s four year career, she has been perfect inside of the ring. 15 fighters have stepped up to the plate to face her, but all have fallen short. In the case of her bout against Delfine Persoon however, Taylor was anything but perfect.
Forget about losing fights, Taylor was becoming unfamiliar with losing rounds inside of the squared circle. When she wasn’t scoring highlight reel level knockouts, then she was simply boxing circles around her opponents. Yet, during her 2019 matchup with Person, Taylor found herself in a dog fight. The unified champion was consistently backed up against the ropes for long stretches and outworked.
Taylor’s customarily easy night at the office was anything but that as she bit down on her mouthpiece and fought fire with fire. The end results were the same for Taylor as the judges ruled it unanimously in her favor, but the majority of the crowd inside of Madison Square Garden in New York City, believed that her title reign should have been truncated on the night.
Question marks of whether or not Persoon is the better fighter arose, and now, Hearn is looking to put those thoughts to bed for good.
Taylor vs Persoon is a significant match up, but their proposed rematch date is important as well.
On August 22nd, former multiple time heavyweight title challenger Alexander Povetkin is set to headline a Matchroom card against WBC interim titlist Dillian Whyte.
The notion of two high level fights on the same card has motivated Hearn to make it happen. With that being said though, the fight isn’t a done deal just yet.
“The first fight was one of the best I’ve ever seen live and as a fan. I would love to see it again. Whyte versus Povetkin and Taylor versus Persoon 2 is an epic double header. Let’s see if we can get it done.”
