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"It's going to be fireworks" - Jonas gunning for Taylor's crown

Natasha Jonas is determined to make Katie Taylor "look human" on Saturday night, and claim her un...



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"It's going to be fireworks" - Jonas gunning for Taylor's crown

Natasha Jonas is determined to make Katie Taylor "look human" on Saturday night, and claim her undisputed lightweight title. 

The former amateur foes meet on the undercard to Derek Chisora's heavyweight contest with Joseph Parker in Manchester.

It's the first meeting of Jonas and Taylor since the quarter-finals of the women's lightweight class at London 2012. Taylor won that day en route to a famous gold medal.

But Jonas is in confident mood ahead of Saturday night's reunion.

"You can always expect a fight of the year contender when I'm in the ring" she told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

"We've just got styles that gel, and it's going to be fireworks.

"The best version of me versus the best version of Katie... you know, what is there not to like?

Jonas' trainer Joe Gallagher has been making waves ahead of the fight, bringing the judges under the microscope.

"There's been question marks over a few Katie Taylor decisions and Natasha Jonas' decision, so we want the best judges that the governing bodies have at ringside," Gallagher told Sky Sports.

He added, "We'll be looking to know who the judges are assigned to the fight and if there is any that we're not happy with then we will raise an objection with the British Boxing Board of Control, and the governing bodies.

"I can only control what I control, and the judges is not one of them," she said.

"The boxing, I can. My skills, I can and everything else is out of my control. So I haven't focused on the judges and how they decide to score because that's nothing that I can control.

"I'm not giving myself too much stress."

Collision course

Jonas feels her and Taylor were always on a collision course to meet again in the professional ranks, albeit a route diverted by the Liverpudlian's 2018 loss to Viviane Obenauf in Cardiff.

"At that time... I honestly believed that - hand on heart - Katie was the only person that could've beaten me," Jonas said of the 2012 meeting with the Bray woman.

"I was on a projection which was just... I'd come out of the World Championships on a different level and a different high after getting a bronze medal.

"And I finally believed in how good I was."

She added, "I think I've always wanted to fight her again, just our paths have never crossed since.

"And it sounds mad, but we've only crossed paths so few times, even those we was (sic) in the same weight for such a long, long time and it just so happens that it's now.

"You've just got to take your opportunities when they come.

"After the Obenauf [defeat] I didn't know if I'd ever get back on the path. So once the Harper fight was done and dusted and the opportunity came, I've always taken my opportunities when they come and I got it so I'm not complaining too much now."

Aura 

Making Taylor "look human" has been the mantra of Camp Jonas ahead of Saturday's fight.

What the chinks in Taylor's armour happen to be, she's not saying, but Jonas is adamant they exist.

"The aura of the boxer that she is - we have these same auras about... there's very few... [Vasyl] Lomachenkos, Anthony Joshuas, and then someone comes along and beats them or makes them human (laughs)," she said.

"We always expect such high standards from her that we've put her on a pedestal, then someone comes along and proves that they are just like any other boxer. They have got flaws, they have got weaknesses, they are human and make mistakes.

"I don't take too much from the Persoon fights because I'm not Persoon and I don't box like that.

"Persoon is a tough fight for anybody. Her work-rate is very high, her skillset's not as high as others but she makes up for it in hard work and determination."

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Boxing Katie Taylor Natasha Jonas