Eddie Hearn and not Katie Taylor defeated Persoon claims disgruntled former champ

The influence and power of Matchroom and nothing Katie Taylor [14(6)-0] did in the ring prevented Delfine Persoon [43(18)-2(1)] from becoming undisputed lightweight champion of the world claims the Belgian fighter.

The former WBC beltholder has been very vocal with regard to the scoring of her all-action clash with the Irish sporting legend claiming she was ‘robbed’ at Madison Square Garden on June 1.

There are some who argue she did enough to win while others favoured the early work of the new four belt champion.

However, the 34-year-old claims ‘everyone knows’ she was rightful victor and has put the defeat down to the ‘pressure of Matchroom’.

The Belgian implies the judges were swayed by the fact Taylor was effectively the home fighter on a big night for Matchroom. In fact she went as far as to make a ‘money talks’ claims.

“I think it was the pressure of Matchroom and Eddie Hearn that led to this decision,” she told Boxing Monthly.

“As they say in Belgium, money talks. I am just a boxer from a small country you see. It’s a shame and everyone knows the decision was not correct. We hope to get a rematch because the right decision was not made. A rematch would be great for us.”

The undisputed champion has told every interviewer since the fight that a rematch is ‘inevitable’, although her team prefer to explore the Amanda Serrano route first.

Persoon initially bemoaned the fact a rematch looked unlikely until the Summer of 2020, but now claims she doesn’t think it will have.

“They’ve said I am not in a position to negotiate another fight as I’m not a champion any more. They’ve said we have other things on our programme first. To be honest, I don’t think there will be a rematch.”

Should it happen, however, Persoon remains confident.

“I know I can beat Katie Taylor,” she maintains. “She is a very good amateur and she can be a good pro fighter. But the style of a real pro, of a pressure boxer, she doesn’t want it.

“From the second round, she grabbed my arms every time she could, or the head. She didn’t want us both to box. Yes, she’s a great fighter but she throws three or four punches and then grabs her opponent.

“There are things I could do better next time by moving in and out quicker taking a step back so she couldn’t grab me. That was a mistake I made.“