Delfine Persoon smiled and shook her head once she heard the suggested future options for Alycia Baumgardner.
The process to secure her overdue title shot, however, will be no laughing matter.
“My next fight will be versus Alycia Baumgardner,” Persoon told BoxingScene.com. “I am the number-one contender with the WBC, the IBF, WBO and even the IBO. We are number-two in the WBA behind the former champ (Hyun Mi Choi). We are contacting the sanctioning bodies to get one or more of them to order the fight.”
Every major title at junior lightweight is held by Baumgardner (15-1, 7KOs), who most recently defended her fully unified crown in a ten-round unanimous decision win over Christina Linardatou (14-3, 6KOs). The July 15 DAZN headliner took place in Baumgardner’s Detroit hometown and saw her avenge her lone career defeat five years after Linardatou won a split decision in their July 2018 predating their respective title reigns.
Persoon (48-3, 19KOs) handed Linardatou her first career defeat in July 2016 as part of her five-year WBC lightweight title reign. The 38-year old Belgian and her team understood the logic behind the fight and stayed mum on the subject. The immediate expectation was to next challenge for the undisputed championship but the roll call of high profile names mentioned during the post-fight interview suggested Persoon will have to take action to protect her rights.
Baumgardner called for showdowns with a trio of fully unified champions – featherweight queen Amanda Serrano (44-2-1, 30KOs), long-reigning lightweight champ Katie Taylor (22-1, 6KOs) and junior welterweight ruler Chantelle Cameron (18-0, 8KOs).
Promoter Eddie Hearn has aggressively pushed for a Baumgardner-Serrano clash. Serrano —a seven-division champ who next defends her featherweight crown August 5 versus Heather Hardy in a rematch—has repeatedly stated that she is done moving up and down in weight save for a Taylor rematch.
Persoon is 5-0 at junior lightweight following her narrow loss to Taylor in their June 2019 undisputed championship clash and subsequent defeat in their August 2020 rematch. Both fights were promoted by Matchroom but Persoon has since found herself on the outside looking in.
“It’s funny, when you don’t fight for Eddie Hearn, they forget my name,” quipped Persoon. “The sanctioning bodies know my name, though, and don’t have to look far. I am there at the top of the rankings and ready to fight for the championship.
“I hope the champion feels the same way.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox