Newly-crowned welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill hopes former foe Katie Taylor emerges victorious from her grudge match with Belgian Delfine Persoon at Matchroom’s Fight Camp tonight.
In December 2017, the then unsung McCaskill pushed Taylor all the way in a keenly-contested WBA lightweight title match before the Irish star’s smoother skills saw her prevail on points. McCaskill (9-2, 3 KOs) hasn’t looked back, winning WBC and WBA titles at 140lbs before toppling the long reigning queen of women’s boxing Cecilia Braekhus in an undisputed welterweight title clash last weekend.
The Chicago brawler, who was ringside for Taylor and Persoon’s first, keenly contested encounter at Madison Square Garden, says she will be rooting for the undisputed lightweight champion with an eye on a lucrative rematch.
“I want Katie to win,” said McCaskill. “Katie is one of the biggest fights for me outside of a Cecilia rematch. We just have to go to the drawing board and figure it out. I hope to fight before the end of the year, but we have to see how Katie gets out of this fight. If she’s cut or anything like that it will take longer with suspensions but I’d love to fight before the end of the year. I am already back in the gym so I am staying ready.
“I almost knocked Katie out with a left hook. I felt that I was on the world class level and I proved it. If Katie had lost that fight to me, I don’t think Eddie [Hearn] would have kept pouring money into women’s boxing the way he has. He was so invested in Katie and he still is. So I am okay with the outcome. We have both led successful career paths from there and I think there should be a rematch.
“Something like Wembley Stadium where there are 100,000 fans, if that’s even possible in the times that we are in right now, then of course that is something we wouldn’t pass up. Our preference is to have the fight in the states since the first fight was in the U.K. This one should probably in the U.S.
“If it was in Chicago, it would be insanity. It would be massive. It’s funny because when you ask those questions, you just ask yourself, ‘Well where are the numbers for COVID-19 at?’ I’d love for it to be in Chicago but it doesn’t need to be in Chicago. So many people travel to see these fights – they travel to see Katie, they travel to see me. New York would be the hub for that. I was at her fight with Delfine in New York and I met so many fans from Canada, Australia, the UK.
“Sometimes with boxing, they wait too long and the opportunity is gone for one reason or another. I don’t think waiting is the answer. If we don’t have fans, we don’t have fans. We will both experience with fighting without fans now. I don’t think it will be an issue. I love my fans and I’d love to have them there with me but then again, I think everyone has DAZN by now.
“I was at the first fight in New York. I think it was a really close fight, I thought it was going to be a draw. Katie had the belts, I didn’t think they’d give it to Delfine. I know Delfine is aggressive. Katie wanted to prove something and she came out with the win but that probably wasn’t the smartest plan because she has all the tools to beat her.”
Taylor-Persoon 2 will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Box Office tonight in the UK.