Katie Taylor has always taken on all comers. Her drive to be the best Women’s Boxer on the planet is being realized as of this writing. 

Taylor’s list of accolades is indeed long including winning Lightweight Olympic Gold in 2012 in London. Taylor’s coming out party and breakthrough was on December 15, 2018 when she beat undefeated Finnish Eva Wahlstrom at Madison Square Garden on the Canelo Alvarez undercard and broadcasted on the DAZN App. Taylor’s performance was so captivating and dominating it catapulted her to Boxing Action Magazine’s #1 P4P Women’s Boxer, easily taking the spot away from soft punching undisputed welterweight champion Cecilia “The First Lady” Braekhus who currently has an undefeated record of 35-0.

On March 16 Taylor fought top opponent and fellow lightweight Champion  Rose Volante in the co-main event in Philadelphia on a packed card. Taylor dominated the undefeated 36 year old Braziel champion Rose Volante. The younger energetic Taylor was to much for Volante as the referee stopped the fight in the 9th. I believe it would have been a much more exciting fight if these two champions fought a few years ago when Volante was at her best. Taylor collected her third title in the division with the victory over a tough Volante.

Now Katie Taylor has her eyes set on becoming undisputed lightweight champion of the world. Taylor is currently in talks with WBC lightweight Champion, 34 year old Belgium Delfine Persoon (43-1). Persoon earned a spot on Boxing Action Magazine’s Top 10 P4P list after stopping Melissa St. Vil in the 7th round on March 9th. Persoon also stopped Judy Waguthii in the 10th round in an all action packed affair back in December. Matchmaking Taylor vs Persoon would be similar in scope to seeing Shawn Porter or Keith Thurman take on Errol Spence Junior. Stay tuned for the big announcement of a possible Katie Taylor versus Delfine Persoon soon.

The Battle for Boxing Action Magazine’s #1 P4P Female spot. Women’s Boxing is not only up and coming but exploding in talent and exposure. If the 1920’s were the golden age of men’s boxing, then this is undoubtedly the golden age of women’s boxing. With so many great women champions wanting to be know as the best on the planet in this the great era, there are two women boxers that are so close to the #1 spot, Taylor might not even get a chance to blink. (Women’s  P4P Rankings is a lot more volatile than the men’s and one off night performance can knock you out of the number one).

#2 P4P Amanda Serrano And #3 P4P Claressa Shields are both looking to take the #1 spot over in 2019.

Porter Rico’s Amanda Serrano is an unheard of Seven Weight Division Champion with tremendous power and speed. Serrano is comparable to Manny Pacquiao in many ways. Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor is the dream fight that is hopefully coming in early 2020. Serrano vs Taylor is as big as a fight that can be made in Boxing. It would rank much higher than an Errol Spence Junior versus Terrence Crawford fight – In terms of historical importance. Serrano is coming of a dominate 1st round KO victory over Eva Voraberger at MSG back in January on the Demetrius Andrade/ Arthur Akavov undercard. Because of Serrano’s ability to fluctuate in weight, I would like to see Serrano fight undefeated WBO Featherweight Champion Heather Hardy (24-0) next. Hardy is coming of an impressive unanimous decision (war)victory over tough-top boxer Shelly Vincent. Serrano vs Hardy would keep with the successful formula of the best fighting the best.

Last but not least, United States only Two Time Boxing Gold Medalist Claressa Shields. This brash talking Boxer reminds me much of Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather. While Shields has many fans around the world rooting for her,  there are many fans wanting to see her block knocked off (similar to the love / hate relationship Ali and Mayweather enjoyed throughout their illustrious careers) . Shields is quite honestly what women’s boxing desperately needs. Not only a talker but a woman of action who fights like every fight is her last and only wants the biggest and best opponents the planet has to offer.  

Shields is at a disadvantage in her pursuit of becoming #1 P4P Female. She is currently dominating her division, cutting through opponents like a hot knife through butter. Shields is steam rolling her opponents similar to the great reign Gennady Golovkin had in the middleweight division before age started catching up with him. When a Boxer like Shields or Mike Tyson (back in the day) are so dominate, some will argue that the competition in the era was two weak. In about three weeks, Shields will face her toughest opponent to date, as she takes on multi-division world champion, 29 year old German Christina Hammer who is in the prime of her career in a king of the middleweight unification bout. Shields versus Hammer will take place on April 13 at the Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Shields vs. Hammer is in every way equivalent to the GGG/Canelo showdown that the boxing world craved and still wants after two terrific fights. While Claressa is at disadvantage for the #1 P4P spot for being so dominant, she is in the most exciting division in Women’s Boxing  (The Women’s middleweight division is equivalent to the Men’s Heavyweight division- It is the driving force for the sport). Couple the Division with the American based boxers gift of the gab, boxing skills, power, youth and Boxing Team – and you have an Athlete that may one day surpass the worlds biggest names in female Athletics such as current stars Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

As stated earlier, Women’s  P4P Rankings is a lot more volatile than the men’s and one off night performance can knock you out of the number one. By years end, we will have a clearer understanding of which one of these three worldly athletes (Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano & Claressa Shields) is P4P Queen. Then again the order might get shuffled if Serrano and Taylor can keep taking care of their business and eventually face each other (or maybe someone else will rise, throw there hat in the ring and take the mantle from these three greats). 

Making a Shields vs Taylor/Serrano winner fight would be far fetched because of the size difference. Shields is to big and strong, and with all do respect to the Spence/Garcia Fight (best entertaining one-sided fight I have seen), I am not interested in seeing another mismatch like that again.