Nine months after nearly becoming the undisputed lightweight champion in the pro ranks, Delfine Persoon is now down to a last chance opportunity to keep alive her Olympic dream.
The former long-reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight titlist from Belgium suffered a surprise points loss to Greece’s Nikoleta Peta in the opening round of the Olympic qualifiers Saturday at Copper Box Arena in Hackney Wick, England. Four of the five judges scored the contest 29-28 in favor of Peta, with the dissenting judge awarding the bout to Persoon.
Similar to her narrow and disputed loss to Ireland’s Katie Taylor in their World lightweight championship last June in New York City, Persoon was true to her scouting report in jumping out to a slow start. It’s only cost her twice in the pro ranks but is not the best strategy in amateur boxing where you only have a maximum of three rounds to get the job done.
Peta seized the moment, thoroughly outworking the pro boxer in the opening round and only marginally easing off the gas in round two. Persoon was already mathematically out of the fight on four of the five scorecards heading into the final round, which she dominated as Peta badly tired.
It proved moot by that point, as Peta merely needed to hear the final bell in order to advance to the next round of competition.
For Persoon, it’s a massive setback and one where she not only has to wait out an invitation to the Last Chance qualifier, but whether that tournament sees the light of day. With sporting events shutting down at an alarming rate in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, schedules are being altered seemingly by the hour.
Most nations have issued a 30-day window of restrictions or outright banishment of all gatherings exceeding a certain amount of people in the same setting. The hope is that everyone is given the all clear by mid-April, and that the road to the Olympics includes the Last Chance qualifier this May in Paris.
Persoon opted to make an Olympic run last December, putting on hold a pro career that was teased to include a lucrative rematch with Taylor at some point in 2020. Her five-year WBC title reign came to a close in their fiercely contested 10-round clash for all of the major belts, with Taylor claiming a majority decision win. Many called for an immediate rematch although the two ultimately headed in opposite directions. Taylor moved up to annex a 140-pound title last November, nine days before Persoon—who often weighs closer to junior lightweight than lightweight—came in barely above the featherweight limit for a 10-round win over Helen Joseph last November.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox