Natasha Jonas: Women's boxing is bigger than Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano
- Joe Hewlett
- 7 March 2022
Natasha Jonas believes women’s boxing is not solely relying on Katie Taylor’s much-anticipated showdown against Amanda Serrano to bring in fans.
Jonas fought Taylor in a Fight of the Year contender but narrowly missed out on a famous win.
Serrano, meanwhile, is a seven-division world champion and will now make history alongside Taylor in becoming the first two women to headline Madison Square Garden on April 30.
The pair are regarded as two of the finest fighters of their era and Eddie Hearn has dubbed the fight as 'the biggest fight in female history'.
However, Jonas - who became a world champion in her third attempt by a second-round TKO over Chris Namus at 154lbs last month - said there are plenty of other mega-fights to happen this year, including middleweight rivals Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields.
Jonas said: "There's a few fights in women's boxing that can do that now.
"Taylor-Serrano's definitely one of them, Sav-Claressa for me is more important because I've invested in Sav, she's my Team GB team-mate. Claressa, I've known very well since she was a kid at London 2012.
"Mikaela Mayer and Baumgardner is a tasty fight. Mayer's good at the trash talk and we need different personalities in boxing, we can't have everyone being the nicey-nicey people who are very respectful and polite.
"The more entertaining it is and we are an entertainment sport, the more people will want to watch."
There remains a major discrepancy between the pay male and female fighters earn but Jonas was heartened by a recent social media post from Serrano, who last year linked up with social media star Jake Paul.
Respect for the respect, champ! We'll roll out the red carpet for you! #TaylorSerrano https://t.co/EIcCQ055IV
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) February 24, 2022
Ahead of International Women's Day, Jonas said: "I saw a tweet from Serrano saying she's now a millionaire, whether that's because of the Katie fight or because she's with Jake Paul, whatever it is hats off to her.
"She's making more money than she ever has before, she's at a level that we all aspire to.
"I think we're doing everything that we can. We're fighting everyone that we can, we're pushing on, we're performing. It's up to now promoters, broadcasters, sponsors, everyone else to back us as they do with the men."
