The Greatest Female Fights of the Modern-Era

The Greatest Female Fights of the Modern-Era

The all-female card this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London is another important step for women’s boxing. Maybe the final one.

The long battle for acceptance, relevance and so much more is almost won. It took time, too much time in all honesty, but Saturday night is the knockout punch to any remaining lingering doubters. The dinosaurs will finally be extinct. Or so we hope.

Katie Taylor opened many doors, probably every door when she turned professional in 2016. What Jane Couch bravely started in that bigoted era of ignorance and prejudice, Taylor took it to a whole different level. But even she had doubters to overcome in the beginning. Many forget that.

Claressa Shields, Savannah Marshall, Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner headline at the O2 this weekend, two grudge fights that could quite easily make the list of modern-day great female fights. But what fights are there already?

1: Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano

The biggest female fight of all time. With unprecedented hype and anticipation, an iconic venue, it could all have blown up everyone’s faces. In many ways, it needed to deliver. It did and then some. It delivered everything it promised, and more. All things considered, the greatest and the most important fight of all time. A true watershed moment in boxing history.

Taylor after a good start was hurt in the 5th, it looked over. A matter of time. Serrano brought power, it looked to be the definitive deciding factor. But Taylor proved once again what an extraordinary fighter she is. Over 19,000 fans packed into the Garden in New York. 1.5 million watched at home. It was some fight. Some night. A special one. An unforgettable one. Taylor recovered, and despite the judges being split, won beyond any reasonable doubt. It was at times brutal and savage, but equally, a thing of absolute beauty. Taylor and Serrano did everyone proud. A fight for the undisputed world lightweight titles. They in truth mattered very little. It was just that kind of night. At some point, they may go again. Ireland and Croke Park await.

2: Mikaela Mayer vs Maiva Hamadouche

Last November, a fight for unification at super-featherweight, was an unrelenting war that even on multiple viewing, has to be seen to be believed.

Mayer and Hamadouche served up something quite remarkable. Nearly 1500 punches were exchanged in just twenty breathless minutes. As a pure fight, without the hype of Taylor Serrano, it was even better than that Madison Square Garden thriller in April. The scores were wide, a little harsh on Hamadouche. But Mayer edged most of the rounds. And deserved her win and her moment.

3: Katie Taylor vs Natasha Jonas

In a re-run of their 2012 Olympic showdown, Katie Taylor and Natasha Jonas gave us a fight-of-the-year contender in May of 2021. In Covid hit times, it lacked for a crowd, a stark contrast to London and those record-breaking noise levels. The lack of crowd didn’t mean for lack of action or quality. Jonas started slowly, the first two rounds almost certainly cost her the fight. But she came desperately close to finally winning that elusive world title.

Jonas made it even after 8 rounds, Taylor sensing defeat, boxed quite beautifully in the 9th. But they brawled and went to war in the final round. Jonas went for broke, and very nearly saved her night. One round was the difference on the cards. Wafer-thin margins. Maybe even one punch decided it. The rematch never came. It should and hopefully, it still might, it would be a fitting moment for both fighters to end their careers on.

4: Katie Taylor vs Delfine Persoon

New York seems to bring out something in Katie Taylor that no other venue can. On the night it all went wrong for Anthony Joshua in 2019, it very nearly did for the Irish superstar. Persoon, the wide betting outsider, pushed Taylor hard. Taylor looked exhausted at the end and a beaten fighter. I had it even, one judge agreed, two others didn’t. Persoon left the ring in tears. Taylor was lucky to some degree. If she had lost, few would have complained. The rematch ended the same way, but with a little less controversy.

5: Terri Harper vs Natasha Jonas

Natasha Jonas, was considered over the hill, weight drained and the perceived lamb to the slaughter in 2020, when she challenged the heir apparent to Katie Taylor for her world super-featherweight titles. At 36, the Liverpool fighter was there to lose, and heavily, make no mistake about that. Jonas didn’t read the script. There was something about Jonas in the lead-up to the fight, that she knew something we didn’t. A quiet confidence that she would defy the odds against her.

A back garden fight that changed perceptions of women’s boxing. And of Jonas. ‘Miss GB’ was inspired, had Harper rocking and teetering in the 8th, and was desperately unlucky to leave the ring with only a draw to her name. Harper more than played her part and did well to survive that awful 8th round and rally to save her title in the 10th round. I had Jonas winning, but I suspected the ‘away’ fighter would be left frustrated. The rematch never came. In 2023, it might.

6: Shannon Courtenay vs Ebanie Bridges

The Social Media hype machine, the lingerie model who would be exposed and sent back to Australia as a boxing fake. That’s when many thought, and said, when Ebanie Bridges came over to the UK to fight Shannon Courtenay for the vacant WBA bantamweight title in April 2021. Bridges came over to prove her point. She did.

Bridges was hurt on a couple of occasions, severely hampered by a grotesque swelling over her left eye, but she came roaring back to prove all her doubters wrong, including her opponent. The judges were incredibly harsh on Bridges. The Australian deserved more credit for her work.

Steve Bunce said: “It might have been the best women’s fight we’ve ever seen in this country.”

Without the injury to her eye, Bridges would probably have won. Courtenay has since lost her world title, Bridges now has one and is a better fighter now. Yet again, the rematch never materialised, but there is every chance, in 2023, it might.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing