All week long, Katie Taylor spoke about silencing critics who thought Delfine Persoon did enough to win their first fight in June 2019.
Saturday night, Taylor did just that: She delivered a unanimous decision over Persoon to retain her undisputed lightweight championship. Judges scored the fight 98-93, 96-94 and 96-94 in Taylor's favor at the Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, England.
With the win, Taylor (16-0) advances to face newly crowned undisputed welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill in a rematch of their own.
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Just as she did in their first bout, Persoon (44-3, 18 KOs) smothered Taylor with a relentless, forward-fighting attack. This time, however, Taylor was able to create enough space to pepper and pound her challenger with stinging shots.
Taylor's boxing ability and footwork opened up a nasty gash on Persoon's right cheekbone during the second round. After the bout, Persoon said that she thinks her nose was broken during that frame.
While the Belgian challenger kept moving forward, she wasn't able to goad Taylor into brawling for enough rounds, as the champion used a skillful attack to bounce outside and make Persoon pay. By the end of the bout, both women sported war marks, with a massive welt on Taylor's forehead and blood gushing from Persoon's nose and face.
"For the most part," Taylor said to Sky Sports Boxing and streamed on DAZN after the bout, "I stuck to my boxing this time."
She added: "It's never going to be easy against someone like Delfine."
Persoon couldn't argue the unanimous decision loss, as she did the majority decision defeat she suffered in the first bout.
"This time, I respect the result," she said in defeat. "I couldn't hurt her this time."
Taylor defeated McCaskill via unanimous decision in December 2017 in London. McCaskill won the welterweight title on Aug. 15 when she upset longtime titleholder Cecilia Braekhus.
