By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Katie Taylor is completely appreciative of the enormous moment that awaits her Saturday night.
If the unbeaten lightweight defeats Delfine Persoon, she’ll become just the third woman in boxing’s four-belt era to own all titles in a division at the same time. A win would ascend Taylor into a group only occupied by Cecilia Braekhus and Claressa Shields.
Norway’s Braekhus (35-0, 9 KOs) and the United States’ Shields (9-0, 2 KOs) own the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles in the welterweight and middleweight divisions, respectively. The 32-year-old Taylor (13-0, 6 KOs), of Bray, Ireland, and the 34-year-old Persoon (34-1, 18 KOs), of Roeselare, Belgium, will fight for Taylor’s IBF, WBA and WBO 135-pound championships and Persoon’s WBC crown on the Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz undercard at Madison Square Garden (DAZN).
“This is the pinnacle of the sport,” Taylor told Sky Sports. “To become the undisputed champion of the world is the pinnacle of boxing. This would be the biggest night of my career so far. The Olympics in 2012 was absolutely outstanding, but I think this night would even pass that one out as well. So, this is definitely the biggest night of my career and I can’t wait for it.”
Taylor has targeted owning each of women’s boxing’s lightweight titles since he turned pro in November 2016. Persoon has owned the WBC title since April 2014.
“This is huge,” Taylor said. “To have the four belts in this era, we all know how hard it is to make these fights nowadays. To fight for the undisputed title is absolutely huge in boxing right now. So, I can’t wait to write my name in the history books. Ever since I did turn pro, as I said, this is the fight that I wanted. I wanted to become the undisputed champion. I wanted to make history in this sport, and I’m so close to it now.”
If Taylor, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, tops Persoon, she hopes to defend each of her four lightweight titles moving forward. Most men who’ve owned four titles in one weight class have relinquished at least one of those championships, either to move up in weight or to avoid paying four sanctioning fees for single fights.
“I’ll have to just keep defending them,” Taylor said. “There’s plenty more big fights out there for me. I feel like this is only the start of big things for me. But I realize that the challenge Saturday night is huge. She’s an outstanding champion and it definitely is gonna be the toughest fight of my career. But, as I said before, I am ready and I’m ready for any big fight out there at the moment.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
