Delfine Persoon and Caroline Veyre are set to meet for the vacant WBC junior lightweight title.
Dmitriy Salita, Veyre’s promoter, hopes to stage the fight in January and February. Additionally, the founder of Salita Promotions believes that a potential win puts her in a position to land a future fight with current unified 130lbs champion Alycia Baumgardner.
“Caroline is one of the best women’s boxers in the world,” Salita told BoxingScene. “Facing an elite opponent like Persoon is the kind of challenge that can elevate her to the top of the division.”
Baumgardner was the division’s undisputed champ but vacated the WBC belt in opposition to the sanctioning body’s refusal to approve women’s championship bouts to be contested over 12, 3-minute rounds. The subject arose ahead of Baumgardner’s next title defense, which will come against Leila Beaudoin.
It opened the door for the 37-year-old Veyre, 10-1 (0 KOs), an Olympic quarterfinalist for Canada during the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.
The three-year pro signed with Salita Promotions shortly ahead of her February 2 points win over Carmen Vargas in Flint, Michigan. She has since added a 10-round, unanimous decision over Licia Boudersa on July 26 in Detroit. Both bouts took place at featherweight, though Veyre has since moved up to 130lbs in pursuit of her first major title.
Belgium’s Persoon, 50-3 (20 KOs), is unbeaten in eight starts since the second of her two losses to Katie Taylor.
The former long-reigning WBC lightweight titlist dropped down to 130lbs after her August 2020 rematch with Ireland’s Taylor. She positioned herself as the WBC mandatory challenger to Baumgardner’s title and contended for the undisputed championship last September.
The bout ended inside of four rounds, when Persoon was unable to continue due to a cut from a clash of heads. There were just 23 seconds to go in the 4th round, which would have forced the fight to go to the cards.
Persoon, now 40, ultimately avoided a defeat from the development and was able to keep her place in line for a second shot at the crown. Baumgardner was mulling the possibility of a rematch before she opted to leave behind the WBC belt.
“Delfine Persoon will always be a nightmare for anyone getting in the ring with her,” Samuel Décarie, Veyre’s trainer, told BoxingScene. “When you look at her, you can try to find weaknesses or strengths, but when you get in the ring with her, it is always something different.”
Décarie had been studying Persoon before the announcement of this fight, as he also trains Beaudoin who once sought to face the Belgian southpaw.
Instead, the trainer gets to pursue all four major titles at 130lbs between Veyre and Beaudoin.
“It was a perfect opportunity,” Décarie said of the Persoon fight for Veyre. “And we jumped on it.”
Added Salita: Caroline has been with us for less than a year and is already the mandatory challenger for a world title. We’re about making real fights that matter, and from a pure boxing standpoint, this is one of the best matchups that could be made.”
Veyre, originally from Paris, France, but training in Montreal, claimed prominent amateur wins over three-division titleholder Mikaela Mayer, Shakilya Ellis and Kiria Tapia.
That wealth of experience allowed her to hit the ground running once she turned pro.
“I’m grateful for my team - Dmitriy, Mark [Taffet], Katia [Banel, Veyre’s co-manager along with Taffet], and Sam — because we’re going to win this together,” Veyre said. “And soon… the new WBC Super Featherweight Champion of the World: Caroline Veyre."
On the horizon with a win for Veyre is a potentially bigger fight, one with Baumgardner for all the marbles at 130lbs.
Salita knows Baumgardner well. Baumgardner had called out Claressa Shields, who he has promoted. The problem was that Shields was fighting between middleweight and light heavyweight, while Baumgardner was fighting at junior lightweight—a major difference in weight classes. Now, Salita hopes that Veyre could challenge Baumgardner in the future.
“Baumgardner was calling out Claressa, but there’s nearly a 50-pound difference, that was just clickbait,” Salita said. “A fight between Caroline Veyre and Baumgardner, though, is something we’d seriously love to explore, and it would be very meaningful.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
