2020 Women’s Fight Of The Year: Katie Taylor-Delfine Persoon II

By James Slater - 01/01/2021 - Comments

The all-action fight Katie Taylor and Delfine Persoon put on in August of this year was so good, so crammed with excitement, it could be your pick for 2020’s Fight Of The Year, period – not merely Women’s Fight Of The Year. The two female warriors met in a rematch of a great fight they had engaged in June of 2019 in New York, this time warring in London (on the under-card of the Alexander Povetkin Vs. Dillian Whyte clash). And once again it went down to the wire.

Irish superstar Taylor, the undisputed lightweight champion, slugged it out with Belgium’s Persoon for all ten rounds. The pace an electric one – women’s boxing having two-minute rounds, the fighters accustomed to blazing away with less fear of running out of gas – Taylor and Persoon looked as though they could have kept the fierce work-rate up if they had been fighting three-minute sessions.

YouTube video

It was relentless stuff. Taylor, with her fast hands, started great, winning the opening two rounds with her sharp and effective boxing. But then Persoon, swelling up around the right eye, dragged Katie into her kind of fight (as she had done in New York). It was a war now, with neither woman prepared to give an inch. Taylor, sporting a nasty lump on her forehead, had to fight hard so as not to be overwhelmed. Delfine really was looking as super-strong as she was determined.

There were no knockdowns and neither woman was ever visibly wobbled or staggered, but the punches flowed like a river and each and every fan who tuned in loved every minute of it. The decision – 98-93 and 96-94, 96-94 all for Taylor – might have been more than a little controversial (that 98-93 card in particular), and in truth, Taylor, despite now having two wins over Persoon, has never managed to prove she is the superior fighter of the two. Instead, incredibly evenly matched, Taylor and Persoon brought the best out of each other. Twice.

For 2020, the fight they thrilled us with on the evening of August 22 was without a dloubt the best women’s fight of the last 12 months. Plenty of people would love to see a Taylor-Persoon III. These two superb fighters are nothing but a great advert for women’s boxing. In fact, for boxing, period!