Katie Taylor ducks Delfine Persoon rematch

Edited Press Release

17/09/2019

Katie Taylor ducks Delfine Persoon rematch

[After a dubious win over Delfine Persoon, world lightweight champion Katie Taylor has decided to avoid a rematch and move up in weight. Instead, Taylor] will meet Christina Linardatou for the WBO 140-pound title at Manchester Arena on Saturday November 2nd, shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US.  Linardatou (12-1, 6 KOs) landed the WBO crown with a sixth-round TKO win over Kandi Wyatt in her home city of Athens in March. The 31-year-old made the first defense against Deanha Hobbs three months later , dominating the Australian over ten rounds. Linardatou's sole career loss came against Persoon in June 2016 when she was outpointed in a challenge for the former champion’s WBC title in Belgium – her first world title attempt before moving up in weight to 140 pounds. [Now Taylor seeks out someone who lost to Persoon rather than Persoon herself].
 
Taylor (14-0, 6 KOs) completed her journey from Olympic gold to undisputed lightweight champion with a thrilling and controversial points win over Belgium’s Delfine Persoon on the blockbuster Joshua vs. Ruiz card at Madison Square Garden on June 1st. The win gave her all four major titles.
 
On the same bill, Manchester favourite Anthony Crolla bids farewell at the venue he was crowned WBA champion, rising Light-Heavyweight star Joshua Buatsi steps up again to take on another former World title challenger in Blake Caparello, Felix Cash defends his Commonwealth Middleweight title against English Champion Jack Cullen and Gamal Yafai and Qais Ashfaq continue their march towards titles.
 
Taylor (14-0, 6 KOs) completed her journey from Olympic gold to undisputed lightweight champion with a thrilling and controversial points win over Belgium’s Delfine Persoon on the blockbuster Joshua vs. Ruiz card at Madison Square Garden on June 1st.
 
After a bloody and brutal battle that captivated the New York crowd, the Irish star added Persoon’s WBC belt to her IBF, WBO and WBA titles to hold all four at 135lbs and cement her place as the number one Lightweight on the planet.
 
“I had some of my early pro fights at Manchester Arena and to come back in November and headline a card there a couple of years on is amazing,” said Taylor. “It’s played host to some huge nights in boxing history so I’m honoured to be part of that tradition.
 
“It’s a new challenge at a new weight and something I’m really excited about. I still feel like I have so much left to achieve in the sport and becoming a two-weight World Champion is one of those goals.
 
“There are still so many huge fights out there for me like the Amanda Serrano fight, a rematch with Delfine Persoon and a fight with Cecilia Brækhus but the first goal is November 2nd and winning another world title. I don’t have any issues making lightweight so I think I can move comfortably between the two weights. I always want to push myself and Christina’s an excellent champion so it will be a big test for me.”
 
Linardatou said: “I plan on leaving England with my title. If I need to knock Katie Taylor out in order to retain the title, that’s what I’ll do.”
 
OTHER BOUTS ON THE SHOW:
 
On the same bill, rising light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi steps up again to take on Blake Caparello. Croydon’s Buatsi (12-0, 10 KOs) fights in Manchester for the first time as a professional after extending his explosive KO streak to seven fights as he stopped Canada’s Ryan Ford in seven rounds at The O2 in London on the Lomachenko vs. Campbell card. Next up on his World title quest is Australia’s Caparello (30-3-1, 13 KOs), a former opponent of WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev and former IBF super middleweight ruler Andre Dirrell, who arrives on these shores coming off four wins...
 
Felix Cash defends his Commonwealth middleweight title against Jack Cullen. Cash (11-0, 7 KOs) was due to defend his Commonwealth title against Little Lever’s Cullen (17-1, 8 KOs) in July before an injury ruled him out but the pair will now clash in November after Cullen stopped John Harding Jr in eight rounds in Liverpool...
 
Former WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla (34-7-3, 13 KOs) fittingly returns to the scene of his greatest triumph to call the curtains on a memorable career after challenging pound-for-pound star Vasiliy Lomachenko for the WBA and WBO lightweight titles in Los Angeles earlier this year. The Mancunian hero won the WBA lightweight crown against Darleys Perez on a hugely emotional evening at Manchester Arena in November 2015 and successfully defended his title against Ismael Barroso at the same venue the following year.
 
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“I’m so happy to be back in Manchester for this huge show,” said Eddie Hearn. “Katie Taylor is now established as one of the biggest stars in world boxing and she bids to make more history by becoming a multi weight World Champion by challenging WBO Super-Lightweight champ Christina Linardatou.
 
“Hometown hero Anthony Crolla rolls the dice one more time as he takes part in his final fight in the sport in the arena that has hosted so many epic Anthony Crolla nights. The stabilisers are off for Joshua Buatsi as he takes a huge step up against tough Australian BC in a WBA World title eliminator and there is a brilliant domestic Middleweight clash between Commonwealth champ Felix Cash and English champ Jack Cullen – there’s plenty more beneath these four fights on what will be a huge night of boxing.”
 
Adam Smith, Head of Sky Sports Boxing, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be showing the best female boxer in the world back on Sky Sports on this huge show. This is another major test for Katie Taylor as the undisputed Lightweight champion takes on all comers and continues to cement her extraordinary legacy in the sport.
 
“Katie is a marvellous ambassador and inspiration to so many and we are delighted to be working so closely with her as we look to feature both the very best in boxing and also in women’s sport on Sky.”