Katie Taylor Part Two: Undisputed

Katie Taylor 

Katie Taylor travelled to America for the second time in her professional career, where she defended her WBA belt for the second time against IBF lightweight title holder Victoria Noelia Bustos on 28th April 2018. The Argentine was also making the second defence of the title she won in July 2017. Taylor put on a sublime performance for the New York fans at the Barclays Center, winning the ten-round bout 99-91 on two cards, with judge Tony Paolillo scoring it 98-92 for the Irishwoman.

Three months later, the unified champion returned to London and faced America’s Kimberly Connor-Hamby on the undercard of Dillian Whyte versus Joseph Parker at the O2 Arena. Taylor improved her record to 10-0 (5 KOs), winning by a third-round technical knockout.

On 28 October 2018 at Boston’s TD Garden, Taylor successfully defended her titles against Cindy Serrano, elder sister of Amanda Serrano. Serrano, who had opened her professional career with a 16‑fight unbeaten streak, came into the contest with a record of 27–5–3 (10 KOs).

Boston has a large Irish population, as it was the primary port of entry for hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants fleeing poverty and the Great Famine of the 1840s. Because Taylor was the primary ticket seller, most of the crowd left the arena before the main event, Andrade vs Walter Kautondokwa, after she dominated Cindy Serrano — 100–90 on all three judges’ scorecards.

At breakfast the following morning, Taylor confronted promoter Eddie Hearn and asked him how much Tevin Farmer, who successfully defended his IBF super-featherweight title with a fifth-round stoppage over James Tennyson, had been paid. Hearn admitted it was three times what she received. Taylor confronted Hearn, asking if the situation was fair. Hearn responded, "No," and observed that it reflected the current reality of the sport.  She pressed him further, asking why she sold the majority of the tickets and drew the most interest, yet was paid a fraction of what her male contemporaries were paid. Hearn was blunt in his response. “It’s because he’s a man. That’s what you need to change.”

Hearn later noted that this drive helped Taylor to revolutionise women’s pay in boxing, and she would eventually receive 99% more money than male fighters.

Taylor stayed in America for her next defence at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of Saul Alvarez stopping Rocky Fielding in the third round. Taylor faced Finland’s undefeated Eva Wahlstrom and dominated the scorecards with a shutout 100-90, to go 12-0 (5 KOs).  

Taylor faced another undefeated fighter in her next contest at the Liacourse Center in Philadelphia on 15th March 2019, against WBO champion Rose Volante of Brazil. Volante was making the third defence of the title she won in December 2017 and was looking to improve her record to 15-0 (8 KOs). However, Taylor knocked the Brazilian down in the opening round and forced a stoppage in the ninth round, adding the WBO title to her WBA and IBF belts.

Taylor now had her sights set on adding the WBC lightweight title to her collection to become the undisputed lightweight champion. In her way was the vastly experienced Delfine Persoon, who was making the tenth defence of the title she won in April 2014.

Persoon boasted a record of 43-1 (19 KOs), with her only defeat coming at the hands of fellow Belgian Zelda Tekin via a fourth-round TKO in November 2010. Taylor and Persoon traded blows on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s shock defeat against late substitute Andy Ruiz Jr. at Madison Square Garden on 1st June 2019. 

It was a fast-paced, brutal ten-round war, with Persoon applying constant pressure, whilst Taylor used her footwork and counter-punching to eke out a close majority decision, capturing the vacant Ring Magazine belt along with undisputed status. However, fans and experts were divided, with Persoon hotly disputing the verdict.

Next up for Taylor was a chance to become a two-weight world champion when she challenged WBO super-lightweight title holder Christina Linardatou. The defending champion was born in the Dominican Republic, but fought out of Athens, Greece. She captured the vacant belt in March 2019, defeating Kandi Wyatt by a sixth-round technical knockout. 

She suffered just one defeat in her first thirteen professional fights - a unanimous‑decision loss to WBC lightweight champion Delfine Persoon in June 2016. She also inflicted the first defeat of Alycia Baumgardner’s career in July 2018, before her challenge to Kandi Wyatt. 

Against Taylor, held at the Manchester Arena in November 2019, the defending champion fought aggressively, with Taylor using her superior speed, footwork and counterpunching to control the bout, running out a unanimous decision winner, emulating fellow Irish boxers Steve Collins and Carl Frampton as two-weight world champions.

Taylor next put her undisputed lightweight title on the line against a familiar opponent in the guise of former WBC lightweight champion Delfine Persoon on the undercard of Dillian Whyte’s shock knockout defeat against Alexander Povetkin. While their first meeting was a close, controversial affair, the rematch proved just as hard‑fought; the defending champion used superior range to keep her opponent at bay and retained her titles by unanimous decision. 

At Wembley Arena, Katie Taylor topped the bill against her undefeated Spanish opponent, Miriam Gutierrez, on 14th November 2020. Taylor started aggressively, using her hand speed and footwork to keep her challenger under pressure. Her pressure paid dividends in the fourth round, flooring Gutierrez with a strong right. The Spaniard showed great courage in lasting the full ten rounds, but Taylor’s superiority was reflected in the judges’ scorecards: 100-89, 100-90 and 99-91.

All the best fight fans

Lea

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