Katie Taylor still the one returning Natahsa Jonas aspires to beat

Natasha Jonas has not given up on one day fighting fighting former amateur rival Katie Taylor in the pros.

The Liverpool favourite was one of a number of fighters manager Brian Peters prompted to play a part in building a fight with the now three-belt world champion but warned against putting the fight on the long finger.

At that stage Jonas, who shared the ring and a special occasion with the Bray fighter during the London 2012 Olympics, had elected against speaking about a potential rival she had been linked to within minutes of news breaking she had signed pro terms.

‘Miss GB’ had moved down to super featherweight and revealed she wanted to fulfill world title aspirations at that weight before looking for a fight with the biggest name in female boxing.

A shock defeat to Viviane Obenauf at the Ice Arena in Cardiff, Wales last year made Peters look prophetic and seemed to put paid to any Taylor fight, but the popular 34-year-old puncher still holds out hope. 

“I’ve had a setback in defeat against Obenauf but nothing has changed. My ambitions are still exactly the same and they are to be the best and ultimately win a world title,” Jonas told the Liverpool Echo before discussing undisputed lightweight hopeful Taylor.

“Throughout our amateur career she was the one that everyone aspired to be like and the one everyone wanted to beat,” she added.

“That’s still the same now. She’s paving the way for women’s boxing in this country and in America. She’s the goalposts and we’ve got to reach the mark.”

Jonas returns to the ring for the first time since her defeat in her home city of Liverpool this weekend against Feriche Mashauri and will look to return to winning ways before returning to the ring just three weeks later. 

“It’s been far too long that I’ve been out so I’m glad to have two dates not long after each other,” Jonas who fights over six rounds on the undercard of Liam Smith’s super-welterweight clash against Sam Eggington, added. “It’s just about getting myself back in the flow of being in the ring and getting myself back into world title contention.”