By: Hans Themistode
As expected, Katie Taylor defended her titles with relative ease, comfortably outpointing Jennifer Han to retain her status as the undisputed lightweight champion.
Taylor controlled the center of the ring from the very beginning and landed several hard shots. Han, to her credit, took the punches well then attempted, to get her own offense going. In no mood to get hit, Taylor played defense flawlessly, making Han miss on several occasions.
As most of the early rounds ticked by, it was much of the same. Taylor boxed safely from the outside while putting on a clinic on defense. With everything going her way, Taylor began increasing her pressure incrementally.
The added pressure flustered Han, who was forced into the ropes on several occasions. From there, Taylor began letting her hands go, while moving just enough out of the way to avoid any big shots that were hurled in her direction.
As the midway point of their contest reached, Han attempted to hold her ground in the center of the ring. Although she did have moments, Taylor took charge and landed several hard right hands. In the seventh, Taylor had her best round yet. She connected on a flurry halfway through the round, before doing so again. This time, it resulted in a knockdown. A furious Han got up quickly and yelled in frustration as she claimed she tripped as opposed to a clean punching landing.
Her cries fell on deaf ears as the referee gave her a standing eight count. She never appeared hurt at any other point during their contest but Taylor tried on several occasions to close the show. With women’s boxing only given two minutes to work with, Taylor was never able to finish Han. Still, she cruised to a unanimous decision victory on the night.
