Katie Taylor is being lined up for three big fights in 2020.
After edging one against Delfine Persoon in her last fight, Katie Taylor was a more comfortable winner against Christina Linardatou last weekend.
Taylor claimed the WBO super lightweight belt after defeating the Greek boxer by unanimous decision at the Manchester Arena. Linardatou was aggrieved with the final scorecards but there was not the same kerfuffle as after that close call against Persoon.
Following the bout, which moved Taylor to 15-0 in her professional career, promoter Eddie Hearn declared the Bray native would headline a pay-per-view card in 2020.
Ahead of the fight, Hearn had listed out the three likely opponents for Taylor if she could overcome Linardatou:
- Amanda Serrano
- Cecilia Braekhus
- Delfine Persoon
It appears that Serrano will get the first crack at Taylor and that fight would garner enough interest to make it the obvious PPV option. The fight will be close to St Patrick's Day, in March. That festival [and holy day in Ireland] is on Tuesday, March 17 next year so the date being looked at for the Taylor bout is Saturday, March 14.
The big decision for promoters to then make is going for New York, London or Manchester. The American option would create the biggest buzz so the task after that would be filling the fight card with other decent bouts, and one obvious way of doing that is by stacking it with Irish fighters.
The hold-up over Braekhus [35-0 and welterweight world champion for five years straight] is the weight difference. Taylor is unlikely to go anywhere near 148lbs so the Norwegian may have to come down if she wants a cut off the biggest name in female boxing.
The only woman who could challenge Taylor for that title, at present, is Amanda Serrano. The 31-year-old Brooklyn boxer has nine world titles across seven weight classes and lost only once in her pro career, back in 2012. She was watching Taylor's fight with interest, at the weekend:
https://twitter.com/Serranosisters/status/1191038369846964225
Her last fight was a decision victory over Heather Hardy, back in September, after which she declared, "No matter where it's at, what weight, I'm gonna win."
Serrano in New York in mid March, next year, is the bout to make but these super-fights are rarely simple matters to square off.
What of Persoon? Well, the Belgian returns to the ring, this weekend, for the first time since that controversial Taylor loss. She is taking on Helen Joseph for the WBA super featherweight title but is also exploring if she can fight at the Tokyo Olympics next year.
"We are still looking at whether I will participate,"
she has commented. "I want to bring my own trainer to the qualifiers in London, but then I have to pay everything myself from the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (BOIC) and that makes a difference. Participating in the Olympic Games would be a great opportunity, but I want it on do my way."
Should Persoon get the green light for this, she could well face another Irish boxer - Kellie Harrington or Amy Broadhurst - at Tokyo 2020.
