Delfine Persoon

Delfine Persoon (Dutch pronunciation: [dɛlˈfinə pərˈsoːn]; born 14 January 1985) is a Belgian professional boxer. She held the IBF female lightweight title in 2012 and the WBC female lightweight title from 2014 to June 2019, losing the title in a unification fight against Katie Taylor for the undisputed lightweight championship.

Persoon, who works as a railway policewoman, started professional boxing in 2009, after a career in competitive judo.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2011 she became European female lightweight against Nicole Boss. She successfully defended her title in November 2011 against Myriam Dellal.

In February 2012, Persoon won the WIBF lightweight title with a technical knockout against Lucia Morelli. In September 2012 she added the IBF female lightweight title with a technical knockout against Erin McGowan. In January 2013, she successfully defended her WIBF title against Anita Torti, winning by unanimous decision.

In March 2013, Persoon won a final eliminator against Kremena Petkova by knockout in the second round, gaining the right to challenge Érica Farías for the WBC female lightweight title. In September 2013 she was stripped of the IBF title for inactivity, having failed to defend it in the intervening year.

In December 2013, she won a unification fight with Lucia Morelli for the WIBF and WBF titles.

On 20 April 2014, Persoon won the WBC title by unanimous decision against Farias.

In December 2018, it was revealed that Persoon offered $100,000 to IBF and WBA champion Katie Taylor for a fight. Taylor's manager however stated that "Taylor would not even get out of bed for this sum." Eventually, a lightweight unification fight between Persoon and Taylor was set for 1 June 2019, at the Madison Square Garden in New York, on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. heavyweight world title fight. In addition to all four sanctioning body's titles being on the line, The Ring magazine belt was also at stake. Persoon's management labelled Taylor's team "totally disrespectful" and claimed "psychological warfare" after a series of late fight week demands. This included forcing Persoon to switch hotels as Taylor was staying in the same hotel, demanding that she take an additional blood test and prove Persoon has exercise asthma. Taylor won a controversial majority decision to become the undisputed lightweight champion.