Flip the Script – Jessica McCaskill looking to change Katie Taylor’s legacy plans

Jessica McCaskill wants to tee up a blockbuster rematch with Katie Taylor by ending the reign of undisputed World welterweight champion Cecilia Brækhus on the streets of downtown Tulsa this weekend.

The American faces the long-reigning welterweight queen in her latest gutsy play.

McCaskill first gained attention when she traveled to London to be the first challenger for Taylor’s WBA World lightweight title back in December of 2017.

Such was the Chicagoan’s display that she was always deemed rematch material and she has since gone on to win world titles at light welterweight before this Saturday’s jump.

If Taylor overcome’s Delfine Persoon in a more pertinent repeat later this month she hopes to face undisputed welterweight champ Cecilia Brækhus in another legacy enhancing clash next.

McCaskill is confident she can upset those plans and set up a massive Taylor return by defeating the Norwegian this weekend.

“I would love the Taylor rematch and a chance to get my revenge, and definitely in a place like Wembley Stadium on a huge bill,” said McCaskill.

“If we have fans again, that stadium has 100,000 people, and that’s the kind of crowd that needs to be at that kind of fight. I have my eyes on Taylor, and I want that fight.

“Going to the UK for the Taylor fight, I didn’t know what to expect, but it turns out that we have a ton of fans in the UK. I still hear from the UK fans on a regular basis, and from the airport to the hotel to the venue, there were so many people that reached out and showed love to my team and me.”

“Katie said that people were scared to fight her and of course, we weren’t, we took it and we learned that we were at that level.”

In order for the Taylor rematch to materialise, not only does McCaskill need to beat Brækhus, but Taylor needs to get past Belgian foe Delfine Persoon at Eddie Hearn’s Fight Camp in Essex next Saturday in a rematch of their epic New York battle.

Taylor and Persoon’s second meeting is the third huge women’s World title action in as many weeks following the fight of the year contender between Terri Harper and Natasha Jonas at Fight Camp last week, and McCaskill expects both her clash with Brækhus to continue the high quality of the action between boxing’s elite female fighters.

“I was in New York for the first Taylor-Persoon fight, and it was massive,” recalled McCaskill.

“There was a lot of contacts and it was a lesson for Taylor that you cannot take people lightly, it was a close fight, and she could’ve been on the wrong side of the result. I think the second fight will be another classic.”

“There are a lot of people that are responsible for the rise of female boxing. Eddie Hearn has put a lot of money into female boxing, and DAZN has been a great platform for us to perform on.”

“The Taylor fight was probably meant to be that way; nobody knew who we were, our background and our history, winning that fight could have probably massively disrupted the growth of women’s boxing.”

“I don’t think anyone would’ve put a lot of money into me, not knowing who I was. So, after Taylor won that fight, they put a lot of time and effort into Taylor and things developed from there.”