‘It’s close’ – Katie Taylor v Delfine Persoon rematch on the cards
It looks Katie Taylor [15(6)-0] may get the mega summer bout she craves after all.
The undisputed lightweight world champion had targeted three legacy clashes for 2020.
The plan was to fight seven weight world champ Amanda Serrano in the spring, ‘First Lady’ Cecilia Braekhaus in the summer and the eagerly anticipated rematch with Delfine Persoon [44(18)-2(1)] was to close out a massive 12 months.
The pandemic messed up the planed time frame and then Serrano’s unwillingness to reschedule a proposed May bout for August looked to ruin the plans altogether.
It appeared as if WBA mandatory Miriam Gutierrez [13(5)-0] was all set to step in as Taylor’s August 22 Fight Card opponent – and while it was an acceptable clash, it certainly didn’t have Serrano ‘biggest female fight of all time’ potential.
However, Eddie Hearn has confirmed that a suitable massive fight replacement is on the cards.
The eagerly anticipated rematch with Delfine Persoon is ‘close’ to being agreed confirmed the Matchroom boss.
“I like the Delfine Persoon fight,” Eddie Hearn told IFL TV. “We’ve made three offers to Delfine Persoon. It’s close, it’s close.”
The Olympic gold medal and the Tokyo 2021 hopeful shared 10 action packed rounds in New York last summer.
That in itself is enough to whet fan appetite for a return, but the fact some had the Belgian beating the Irish sensation adds to the narrative and makes it more than an adequate Serrano replacement.
“It’s a much bigger fight because of the controversy from the first fight,” adds Hearn before confirming, Taylor wants to set the record straight.
“Katie wants to take that fight because there is doubt in some people’s mind that she won that fight. So now, it’s a fight like all these fights in the world that deserves sold-out crowds in an arena. But we don’t live in that world anymore. If you’re a fighter, if you care about legacy and achievement, you have to adapt to this environment. You have to go for it.”
It may makes sense to save the legacy clashes for when things return to normal, but the two weight world champ doesn’t want to put any big fights on the long finger.
“Katie don’t want to wait. She’s been ordered by the WBA, she hasn’t made a mandatory since she won the title—it’s been unification after unification,” points out Hearn.
“Katie Taylor is a legacy fight. When you look at the world, the only thing I can guarantee Katie Taylor if we can get Persoon over the line is, we can do it now. Can we do it in October or November? I don’t know. But I know we’ve got a slot in August. I think she’ll be up for it.”
