It was supposed to be a highly anticipated showdown between lineal lightweight champion Katie Taylor and seven-division champion Amanda Serrano. Instead, the boxing world will get a rematch of an excellent bout that ended in controversy as Taylor will put her titles on the line against Delfine Persoon on Aug. 22 from the Matchroom Boxing Headquarters in Brentwood, Essex, England.
The bout take place on the undercard of Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin.
Taylor (15-0, 6 KOs) narrowly escaped her first defeat by edging out a majority decision against Persoon (44-2, 18 KOs) last June on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. The fight was closely contested throughout, but quite a few boxing pundits thought Persoon did enough to dethrone the undefeated champion. It wasn't a robbery as both took as well as they gave throughout the 10-round affair, but there was enough controversy for Taylor to believe she has unfinished business against the 35-year-old who pushed her to the limit.
“Wow! What a fight — what a night! To be honest I can’t quite believe this fight has been made, I can’t give enough credit to Katie and Delfine for agreeing to do it again,” said Matchroom Boxing's Eddie Hearn via press release. “Since their epic Fight of the Year contender at MSG last year, everyone has wanted to see this once again and now we have it. I’m very proud to stage this fight especially at such a critical time for our sport — along with Whyte vs. Povetkin, Aug. 22 will be one not to forget.”
As for Taylor-Serrano, fans will have to wait a little bit longer in hopes that the two sides can patch things up.
Serrano was initially slated to face Taylor on May 2 in Manchester, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the fight off the schedule. An attempt to move the fight to July 4 also failed, and Matchroom decided to relocate the proposed fight from the Manchester Arena to Matchroom Headquarters with the fight needing to be staged without fans in attendance.
The two sides were embroiled in a bitter back and forth that included everything from the new location to debate about a possible pay cut for Serrano. Hearn went on record to say "the fight is on," but it was clear that the Serrano side wasn't pleased with the negotiations. There have been threats of lawsuits from both sides, and there are currently no signs of cooler heads prevailing on the matter.
Instead, Taylor will get the next best opponent and attempt to silence the naysayers who believe that Persoon was deserving of the victory when they first met.
"With Amanda Serrano not taking the fight I wanted the biggest fight possible in August, and I think a second Persoon fight is one that everyone wants to see,” said Taylor. “I've been looking forward to a rematch ever since the first fight, and I'm delighted it's been made. It was definitely very close first time around, but I felt I deserved the win and I intend to leave no doubts in the rematch."
As for Persoon, she bounced back from the loss with a unanimous decision victory over Helen Joseph in November and is pleased with the opportunity to prove that she's the better fighter.
"I am ready to get the victory following the injustice last June in New York, not by words but in the ring," she said. "I am ready!"