Before Holly Holm decided to hang up the boxing gloves and make the full-time transition to MMA in 2013, her manager Lenny Fresquez had been approached by Katie Taylor's manager Brian Peters about a possible fight. It didn't come to fruition, and both went about their business.
Taylor went on to become the undisputed women's lightweight champion and is carrying the female torch in boxing. In her most recent outing, Taylor earned a split-decision win over Amanda Serrano in front of over 19,000 fans at a sold-out Madison Square Garden and over 1.5 million people watched worldwide. Meanwhile, Holm went undefeated in her first ten fights, including a second-round knockout of then-undefeated Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in front of 56,214 in Melbourne, Australia, to capture the UFC women's bantamweight title.
Holm, who will become only the sixth woman to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June, hasn't shown much interest in boxing since leaving the sport. That was until Taylor-Serrano and the fire reignited inside of the only woman to win world titles in boxing and MMA. Taylor's promoter Eddie Hearn has brought Holm's name as a possible opponent if the rematch between Taylor-Serrano doesn't get made. While the former three-division world champion's (140,147, 154) sole focus is on the UFC and her main event matchup on Saturday against fellow top 135-pound contender Ketlen Vieira,she does let her mind wander to a possible showdown with Taylor.
"I got to the point where boxing, I wasn't excited about it because I was so focused on MMA, and I still am focused on MMA," Holm told DAZN. "But this has brought excitement to me for boxing. I was never able to fight at 135. I was 140, 147, and 154 titleholder. My last fight actually was with a girl that she had a belt at 135. She kind of mentioned at one point before the fight, ‘Well, I don't usually fight at 140. I got my belt at 135.’
"I had already fought in MMA at 135 at that point. So we're like, well, let's fight at 135 then, but it's gonna be for your belt. She's like, ‘No, I don't want to do that. I want to fight for your belt.’
"With that being said, it's almost like kind of an unfinished business. Do I need to go back and fight for the 135-pound belts? That's what Katie Taylor has."
Holm (33-2-3, 9 KOs in boxing) made her professional boxing debut at 20. No amateur career and no Olympics like Taylor because women's boxing wasn't declared an Olympic sport until 2012. If "The Preacher's Daughter" does return to boxing and the UFC signs off on it since she's contracted to the organization, it's for Taylor and Taylor only.
"Yeah," Holm said about the Taylor fight being the only way she'd return to boxing. "I wouldn't go back just to start a whole new path. I would go back there and be like, ‘No, I'm going for the belt, and I'm going for 135-pound belt.’ That would be the only way I would do it."
"There's things that intrigued me because also all this back and forth between MMA and boxing. There's a lot of fighters that have gone both ways. They might have done decent, but they're not actually fighting for world titles still. And I'm capable of doing that. Not just being like, ‘Oh, it's gonna be a big money fight, and it's gonna be fun to watch, and let's just get people intrigued about it.’ I have the potential to still fight for titles and be successful. So it does make me intrigued."
What odds would Holm place of her getting back into the ring with Taylor standing across the ring from her?
"I mean, at this point, I think we’re at 50 percent," Holm said. "That's a pretty good percentage. I may or may not, but it's right there."