Tougher than Taylor – Persoon confident she can out fight Irish star
Delfine Persoon [43(18)-1 (1)] plans to take Katie Taylor [13(6)-0] into deep waters come Saturday night and their eagerly anticipated undisputed fight.
The long reigning WBC world champion admits she hasn’t the skill, speed or technical ability of the London 2012 Olympic champion, but believes she edges the physicality stakes.
With that in mind the Belgian plans to ensure their clash for all the marbles at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s American debut becomes a battle of wills rather than skill.
Persoon has all but written off the first three rounds of the WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO lightweight world title fight, but suggests her rival won’t be able to box for 10 rounds – and predicts she will have fight defining success in the later rounds.
“I know she has more speed than me, but I think physically I have the edge. Her best chance is speed and technically she is little bit better than me, but it’s not amateur fighting – it’s professional fights,” Persoon explained.
“It’s 10 rounds; it’s not three rounds. You can run for three rounds maybe, but 10 rounds is a long time for running. I think with a physical fight it works in my favor. The first three rounds are going to maybe be technical, but the longer the fight goes on, the better for me.”
Champion vs Champion
The Best vs The Best
History will be made
#TaylorPersoon #RoadToUndisputed #JoshuaRuiz pic.twitter.com/ylSTDDwpel— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) May 27, 2019
The 44 fight veteran also claims she enters one of the biggest fights women’s boxing has ever seen pressure free and argues that isn’t the case for former amateur sensation Taylor.
Persoon claims she has nothing to lose as boxing is her passion rather than her job.
“I fight because I like it. For me it’s not my job, it’s my hobby, it’s my passion. I fight for my passion and my team around me. We hope we win the fight, but if I lose it’s no problem for me, I’ll come back to Belgium and go to work as a police officer and I have my job, my security and my money every month. For Katie, boxing is her job. If she loses it’s a big difference for her, it won’t be good for her job. So, for me, I have nothing to lose. Katie Taylor has everything to lose.”
