Trainer Joe Gallagher asked about Katie Taylor’s availability to fight Natasha Jonas once the Irish star’s fight with Amanda Serrano had been postponed.
Taylor-Serrano had been due to take place on the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul bill on July 20, but after Tyson fell ill the date was moved back to November and Gallagher enquired whether Taylor wanted a fight in the interim.
“It was put out there to Brian [Peters, Taylor’s manager], ‘In the meantime, did you want to do Katie and Tasha at the Co-op [Arena] in Manchester for a show in August? If you wanted to do it, we would do it.’ And the thing for it was, it was a chance for [undisputed junior welterweight ruler] Katie to be a three-weight world champion or if Tasha moved down she’d have the chance to be a three-weight world champion.”
Liverpool’s IBF welterweight champion Jonas is 15-2-1 (9 KOs) and she lost a tight decision to Taylor in 2021.
“I think with how close the fight was last time, it’s not a guaranteed win for Katie and I’m sure with the money she’s getting for Serrano, like anything when you’ve got the jackpot lottery ticket there you don’t want to go and mess it up, so Natasha was a huge risk and most probably low reward for her, especially when she’s got Serrano coming up next,” Gallagher added.
Jonas has said she will likely bow out of professional boxing this year, but things have not gone to plan. She won a close split decision in January over Mikaela Mayer and had planned to box twice again this year but now, in July, has had nothing scheduled since.
“The plan was January and then May/June and then a fight in the Autumn and retire,” Gallagher explained.
“Obviously that fight in the summer hasn’t happened, that’s not really good for someone of Tasha’s age. She needs to keep busy and as you saw the year before when she won the Boxer of the Year, she was busy, active, and you saw her best performances. The Mikaela Mayer fight [rematch] was done, but for some reason it fell apart at the end, but it was all agreed on our side.
“Obviously Jessica McCaskill, that was another fight that was agreed and done, but then McCaskill was given to another opponent [Lauren Price], which disappointed us, so Natasha now… Katie Taylor is fighting Serrano, Natasha will most likely have a fight now in September-October, and like I’ve always said, I’d like to make Katie Taylor and Natasha Jonas the two of them together, the last dance, at Christmas or St. Patrick’s next year. I just think the two of them that started in [in the Olympics in] 2012, I’d love to see them finish together.”
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