Eddie Hearn has revealed that undisputed lightweight world champion Katie Taylor has a number of options on the table following her win over Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden in April.
However, the Matchroom chairman has said that plans for a rematch with the seven-weight champion at a packed out Croke Park in Dublin will have “to be put on ice” for the time being.
Speaking on the Lightweight Boxing Show, Hearn said: “People are talking about maybe a crossover fight with Holly Holm or [Cris] Cyborg. There's other fighters, world champions as well. [Hyun-Mi] Choi, who's down at super featherweight, could be an option. I’m disappointed we couldn’t make the Serrano rematch, but she wanted another fight before she considered that.
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“And then you've got the other undisputed all about to be undisputed, Chantelle Cameron, Jessica McCaskill. They actually could fight each other, which would be an absolute war because they just come forward or not. But, you know, I do believe that Chantelle Cameron and Jessica McCaskill are also potential opponents to Katie Taylor as well.”
It has long been a dream of Taylor’s to fight at Croke Park and it was initially planned that the Bray Bomber would meet Serrano there in September. Although that fight doesn’t look like coming into fruition this year, Hearn insists a rematch with the Puerto Rican superstar would be perfect for the stadium next year.
“I think that has to be for the Serrano rematch. You’ve got Cyborg, you’ve got Holly Holm - these are huge fights, but I feel like they'll happen later on in the year. We were pushing for September for Croke Park with Serrano - unfortunately, she didn't want that fight. So I think Croke Park would have to sit on ice for spring/summer of 2023.
“It’s a must for me - 80,000 at Croke Park for the rematch. I mean, that was the disappointing thing about not being able to engage Serrano in those talks. But it is what it is and, you know, we move on.”
Hearn was speaking ahead of this weekend’s heavyweight rematch between Derek Chisora and Kubrat Pulev at the O2 Arena. Chisora is entering the bout on a run of three straight defeats, having been beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in 2020 and then Joseph Parker twice in 2021, and Hearn admits that this is a must win fight for Del Boy.
“He does [need to win]. The thing is, when you lose a fight, generally you come back with an easier fight. With Derek, I actually thought after the Parker fight, ‘Look, there’s a lot of people saying you should walk away. Let's come back with a good win’ and then he was like ‘Who’s out there? Give me [Adam] Kownacki, give me [Kubrat] Pulev’...
“I feel a bit for Derek because when you look at his losses: [Tyson] Fury twice, Oleksandr Usyk, Vitali Klitschko, got robbed against [Robert] Helenius, lost to Joseph Parker, lost to Dillian Whyte in two really close fights.
“The moment he starts deteriorating in the ring, the moment he starts looking bad in training - that's the moment the people around him will go ‘Derek, it’s time’. People love Derek in the game, there's a lot of people that would say to him, ‘Mate, you need to stop’ but he’s sparring well, he’s training well - he loves it. And the funny thing is, I said to him, ‘If you beat Kubrat Pulev, you’ll probably fight Wilder or somebody like that, you know.’
“So I don't know what he's going to do, but I know he wants to win and I know we're going to get a great fight. The one thing with Derek just always, you know, when he turns up, he'll give you everything.”
Also on this week’s Lightweight Boxing Show, Hearn talks about Anthony Joshua’s camp ahead of his rematch with Usyk, the Conor Benn vs Chris Eubank Jr rumours and the effect of Lawrence Okolie and Liam Smith’s departure to Sky Sports.
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