Narrow defeat for Delfine Persoon
Delfine Persoon loses rematch against Katie Taylor on points.
Last June, the Belgian Delfine Persoon was defeated on points by Katie Taylor, the figurehead of women's boxing today, in a highly controversial fight. In New York's Madison Square Garden, the now 35-year-old Persoon demanded everything from her favoured opponent from Ireland - and ultimately lost by a wafer-thin margin on points to boos from the crowd. Last night, Persoon got her deserved chance for revenge, but this time she faced a much better-prepared Taylor.
As was the case last June, the two boxers fought a close, hard-fought battle, but this time it was Taylor who produced the better moves over the course of the fight and repeatedly let the constantly attacking Persoon run out of steam. In the end, it was a well-deserved points victory for Taylor, who successfully defended her four world lightweight titles.After the verdict, Persoon was a fair loser and admitted her defeat: "I respect the judgement this time," she said. "I had problems with the weight this time and didn't have enough power to hurt her. If you can't do that, then it becomes a technical fight and that's exactly her strength. My power wasn't there. I have no problem with the judgement and she has my respect for her performance."