AFTER her last performance back in August, Natasha Jonas deservedly returns to world title action for an eagerly-awaited rematch that’s brimming with expectation. Yet the champion in the opposing corner at Manchester Arena on Saturday night isn’t necessarily the one she or we originally had in mind.
The Liverpudlian southpaw was outstanding last summer, going toe-to-toe with Terri Harper in a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender in Barry’s Hearn’s back garden contesting the WBC super-featherweight title.
Most observers scored Jonas victorious, but the three scoring judges were split and the eventual draw resulted in Harper retaining the belt. An immediate rematch seemed almost inevitable.
But promoter Eddie Hearn had other ideas and with Harper heading off for pastures new, Jonas has instead been handed a rematch almost a decade in the making and of a completely different size and scale – physically and financially.
Katie Taylor, the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, holds all four governing bodies belts and is unbeaten in 17 fights. The poster girl of Irish boxing, her reign also includes a stint as super-lightweight champion, built on the foundations of a glittering amateur career.
It was as amateurs Jonas and Taylor last met. Their London 2012 Olympic Games quarter-final blew the roof off the ExCel, with Taylor using the victory as a springboard to claiming lightweight gold. Jonas was comfortably her toughest challenge.
Strong, aggressive and so often almost punch-perfect, Taylor represents a significant step up in levels for 9-1-1 Jonas as a pro, who is playing catchup to her old amateur rival after downing the gloves for three years to start a family.
️ "I always rise to the occasion and Saturday will be no different!" @TashaJonas fights @KatieTaylor this weekend! #TaylorJonas #ChisoraParker pic.twitter.com/SoOhAIVJgI
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) April 28, 2021
This will be Taylor’s 12th consecutive world title fight; Jonas’ second. All eyes on the champion then who with size, experience and history on her side will start as a significant favourite. But Jonas surprised a lot of critics last summer and she heads to Manchester with nothing to lose and literally everything to gain.
A smart southpaw with genuine power, she’s come through true adversity in her return to boxing and become, like Taylor, a real fans favourite.
Also featuring on Saturday’s Sky Box Office card, heavyweight’s Joe Parker (28-2) and Dereck Chisora (32-10) take unwarranted top billing and they each fight to stay relevant in a narrowing heavyweight landscape.
Plus, British champion Craig ‘Spider’ Richards (16-1-1, 9 KOs) makes a colossal leap up in class to challenge Russia’s excellent light-heavyweight world champion Dmitry Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs). And Chris Eubank Jr gets the chance to put 18 months inactivity behind him against overmatched Mancunian Marcus Morrison.
In what’s hoped will be the final vacant UK fight card of the Covid lockdown era, all three British boxers have mountains to climb. Jonas, Chisora and Richards will all start as substantial underdogs for as reason and will likely need to land the knockout punch of their careers to emerge victorious.
TIP: Taylor, Parker and Bivol points treble
