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‘I’ll beat her twice’ – Christina Linardatou no longer worried about rematch ‘injustice’

WBO light welterweight world champion Christina Linardatou was upset to the point of tears, as she found out upon arriving in Machester to announce her fight with Katie Taylor last week, that there was no rematch clause in her contract.

The Greek based Dominican Republic underdog felt she was being ‘treated unfairly’ as she won’t get a guaranteed second bite of the cherry if she loses the massive November 2 clash, but will have to do it all again against the Bray fighter is she manages to cause a sensational upset versus the 1/100 favourite.

“I am being treated unfairly due to the absence of this clause.

“When I heard about it I was ready to explode. I wished the fight was today but I can wait a few weeks,” she said whilst in England last week.

Upon returning to Greece, the 140lbs beltholder was in more defiant mood.

She now feels the contrasting rematch clauses don’t matter going into a Manchester Arena bill-topper.

The 31-year-old, who the undisputed lightweight champion of the world bills as the best of light-welterweight world champions, is adamant she will beat one of the biggest names in the sport, twice if needs be, to retain her title.

“I accept the fight with those terms because in the ring it’s only me and her. No one can protect her in there. The rematch doesn’t matter I will beat her twice,” said a more bullish Medusa.

“If you want my baby, my WBO world title, you have to kill me in the ring, and no one can do that. I promise that,” she added. 

Defending the lack of a rematch clause for the fighter who will be defending their title on the night, promoter Eddie Hearn explained a return with Linardatou would ruin 2020 big fight plans. taylor-linardatou (1)

The Wicklow warrior looks certain to face Amanda Serrano in early Spring and Delfine Persoon next Summer – if she avoids an unimaginable shock on November 2. If Team Linardatou had have made a rematch ultimatum, the Matchroom boss reveals he would have had no option but to look for a different opponent.

“The reason we can’t give a rematch clause is we’ve got plans,” Hearn explained.

“We have Delfine Persoon, we’ve got Amanda Serrano, we’ve got contracted fights that we have to take, so contractually we can’t give a rematch clause. If had to give one we wouldn’t take this fight and if we didn’t take this fight Christina wouldn’t be making a lot of money or getting the chance to become one of the biggest stars in the sport.”

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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