Natasha Jonas challenges Katie Taylor for the undisputed lightweight championship on the Derek Chisora vs. Joseph Parker bill on May 1, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
There may be a sense of déjà vu for those who have followed Katie Taylor and Natasha Jonas’s careers for a number of years now. They first met in the squared circle back in their amateur Olympian days at the 2012 London games.
Taylor comfortably scored the win that summer, 26-15. However, Jonas earned praise for trading blows with Taylor in front of a robust crowd. Nine years later, a lot has changed in the near-decade since their last bout, so what can we expect from this fight?
Katie Taylor
In 2012, Taylor put on a dominant display to earn her Olympic gold medal and became widely regarded as the best female boxer on the planet. She entered the 2016 Olympics as the heavy favorite, only to fall short in a dubious split decision to Finland’s Mira Potkonen. However, that loss may have been professional boxing’s gain, as she turned pro in November 2016 and wracked up a perfect 17-0 record, with 6 KO’s.
Her dominance has been paramount to the sport, garnering increased attention, popularity, publicity, and sponsorship. Unsurprisingly, Taylor is the heavy favorite in the boxing betting with odds of -450 as a repeat of 2012 is expected. She now holds the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles as the undisputed champion, last defending her crown against Miriam Gutiérrez in November 2020. It seems that Jonas is up against it.
Natasha Jonas
Jonas’s road to professional boxing was not as straightforward as Taylor’s. Since losing the initial contest nine years ago, Jonas was focused on the 2016 Rio Olympics, but an operation caused her to miss qualifiers. Staying in the amateur circuit until 2020 didn’t seem right for her, so she decided to retire, as there was no clear path to the pros for women at the time.
Ironically, after commentating on Taylor’s first professional bout, Team GB captain Tom Stalker called her planting the seed to enter pro boxing. It had been two years since she even punched a bag, but she knew it was time to return to her calling. The Liverpool native had her first fight in 2017, winning by TKO. Since then, her record stands at 9-1-1, with 7 KO’s. Her only loss came to Brazilian Viviane Obenauf, costing her the WBA super-featherweight title.
Her last fight with Terri Harper ended in a draw in August of last year; however, her match with Taylor will be her biggest by far. With the lightweight titles on the line, Jonas could establish herself as a powerhouse in boxing with an upset.
What is apparent is how much these two boxers have grown in the nine years since their last fight. They are two accomplished athletes that should lead to a complex contest.