25 August 2020

Katie Taylor eyes crossover fights with Holly Holm and Cris Cyborg after Delfine Persoon victory

Undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor is looking at the prospect of facing MMA superstars Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm in huge crossover fights.

The 34-year-old Irish boxer retained her 135-pound titles with a unanimous decision victory over Delfine Persoon last weekend.

Cyborg has won 22 of her 25 professional MMA bouts (PA Images)

And with her professional record now standing at a perfect 16-0, her manager Brian Peters has revealed she is also looking at bringing MMA fighters into the fray as potential opponents.

Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: "What we want is legacy fights now for Katie, and that means getting her in the ring with the biggest names from anywhere in the fight sports industry - Cyborg, Holm, Nunes - an MMA/boxing crossover fight with is now viable because there is a growing interest in women's fighting.

"We saw it with Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather and there is no reason why Katie could not do a similar thing. There is mania for her in Ireland."

And promoter Eddie Hearn added: "Katie wants the biggest fights out there and we will get them all for her. She is a brilliant boxer and showed how great she is in this rematch."

Taylor is widely regarded as one of the most important people in the development of women’s boxing over the past decade.

After spearheading the campaign to allow women’s boxing into the Olympics, she won gold at London 2012 and bronze at Rio 2016.

She then turned professional and has never looked back, becoming a two-weight world champion and picking up all the lightweight belts on offer.

A couple of big British-Irish fights remain on the table against the likes of Terri Harper and Chantelle Cameron, who are both with Taylor’s promoter Hearn.

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