It was another war, but Katie Taylor made sure this rematch was more decisive.
The Irish sensation used her boxing ability to grind out a unanimous decision over Delfine Persoon to retain her undisputed lightweight crown Saturday night at the Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, England. Judges had it 98-93, 96-94 and 96-94 all in favor of Taylor, who improved to 16-0.
"For the most part," Taylor said, "I stuck to my boxing this time."
She added: "It's never going to be easy against someone like Delfine."
Persoon was as relentless with her attack as she was in their first bout last June, but Taylor stuck to her boxing ability and managed to create just enough space to land the cleaner, stiffer shots over the course of the 10-round bout to ultimately have her hand raised.
Both women sported brutal marks from their second war. Taylor sported a massive welt on her forehead, while Persoon had a gruesome gash on her right cheekbone.
"This time, I respect the result," Persoon said in defeat. "I couldn't hurt her this time."
But Taylor managed to hurt Persoon.
"The second round, I think I broke my nose," Persoon added. "Eight rounds boxing with my nose (broken)."
With the victory, Taylor will now face newly-crowned undisputed welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill in the culmination of this mini-tournament.
Here's how Taylor vs. Persoon went.
Note: Highlights in the video player below are not available in the U.K. or Ireland
Katie Taylor vs. Delfine Persoon round-by-round results
(All times BST)
10:31 p.m.: Judges score it 98-93, 96-94, 96-94 all in favor of the winner and ... still undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor.
10:30 p.m.: Let's see how judges have this rematch on the scorecards.
Round 10: Taylor creates just enough space to tag Persoon with some lightning-quick shots. She adds a stiff right moments later. Both fighters exchange crunching rights now. One minute left. Overhand left from Taylor lands. Persoon still swinging away. Both fighters toe-to-toe, leaving it all out there. Overhand right from Taylor to punctuate bout as the bell tolls. Another extremely close fight with some rounds that could really have gone either way. 10-9 Taylor, 96-94 Taylor
Round 9: Taylor taking heed of her corner by going back to her boxing and movement. She pieces together a three-punch combo and then smashes Persoon with a hard right hand. Moments later, a hard left follows. A cut to the left eye of Persoon now. Taylor's right hand did it. Final round next! 10-9 Taylor, 86-85 Taylor
Round 8: Cameras show Taylor sporting a massive welt on her forehead. Stiff jab from Persoon backs the champ up. Persoon is just hunting Taylor non-stop. Taylor trips, as she feels like she was hit late and delivers a stiff shot to Persoon. Yet, Persoon keeps the volume going. She's relentless. Taylor needs to go back to moving her feet. This fight, the way it currently stands, is going in Persoon's style. 10-9 Persoon, 76-76
Round 7: Persoon greets Taylor with a hard right, but the champ answers back with a stinging combination moments later. And another follows with smooth footwork from Taylor. Persoon lunging in on shots and appears to have more energy despite taking more abuse. Plenty of volume from Persoon and she has the motor to keep it going. 10-9 Persoon, 67-66 Taylor
Round 6: The champ sneaks in a sharp left hook, then escapes harm in a slick fashion. Taylor now works the body before unleashing a left hook. Another left hook follows for Taylor. But Persoon just keeps working away, attacking the head and body relentlessly — still missing on most of her shots. Taylor pops Persoon's head back with a left hook. She's the more accurate boxer without a doubt. Persoon's work rate, though, could be convincing judges. Good work from Persoon this round, but Taylor takes the frame with her accuracy. 10-9 Taylor, 58-56 Taylor
Round 5: Taylor creates breathing room away from Persoon's smothering and rips the body. Seconds later, she unloads a heavy right hand. Persoon is relentless, as she eats punches, but keeps moving forward. But Taylor is sticking to her boxing ability and not being goaded into brawling. Taylor takes this round, too. But one has to wonder if Persoon's relentless attack inside is weighing on the champ and tiring her out halfway through. 10-9 Taylor, 48-47 Taylor
Round 4: Taylor with a three-punch combination, then escaping a charging Persoon. Then, the champ adds a sharp one-two combination. Persoon throwing punches with reckless abandon but missing on a majority of her shots. Taylor ducks under a shot and bashes Persoon with a right hand. The champ looked great in this round. 10-9 Taylor, 38-38
Round 3: Persoon rips the body, but Taylor returns fire with a stiff jab. She's moving really well in a good rhythm. Persoon unloads a right hand and Taylor attacks the body. Overhand right from Persoon lands. Taylor digging into the body with the more accurate output. Taylor making Persoon miss during the waning seconds. A much closer round that Persoon just manages to eke out. 10-9 Persoon, 29-28 Persoon
Round 2: This time when Persoon muddies things up inside, Taylor shows excellent footwork, creates space and tags the Belgian fighter with stinging shots. Persoon has a nasty gash opened up on her right cheekbone. It came from a check left hook from Taylor. 10-9 Taylor, 19-19
Round 1: Taylor asserts the jab, with a stiff shot to Persoon. But Persoon catches her moments later inside, where she wants to be, with a sharp left hook. She's the aggressor already. 10-9 Persoon
10:00 p.m.: All action as the bell rings.
9:58 p.m.: Ring announcer David Diamante announces both fighters and this one is seconds away!
9:53 p.m.: And here comes the reigning undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor.
9:50 p.m.: Here comes former lightweight world champion Delfine Persoon. Let's see if she could deliver another relentless attack — that results in a win this time.
9:45 p.m.: Next up — the massive co-feature, as Katie Taylor defends her undisputed lightweight championship in a rematch against Delfine Persoon. The winner will meet newly-crowned undisputed welterweight champ Jessica McCaskill. Taylor delivered a unanimous decision over McCaskill in December 2017.
However, before any Taylor-McCaskill rematch talks could really commence, Taylor will look to silence critics who thought Persoon got the best of her on June 1, 2019, when the Irish boxing sensation walked away with a controversial majority decision and her titles in tow. Keep it locked here for all the action.
9:30 p.m.: Congo unloads a big counter left hook that lands across the jaw and drops Clay with a thud in the ninth round. Clay's corner threw in the towel, prompting the ref to end the fight, as Congo secured the victory. Congo's height, reach and relentless attack was too much for Clay to overcome.
8:47 p.m.: Luther Clay (13-1, 5 KOs) and Chris Kongo (11-0, 6 KOs) are making their respective ring walks for their welterweight clash. Katie Taylor will defend her undisputed lightweight crown against Delfine Persoon after this bout.