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WBO, IBF, WBC junior middleweight champion Natasha Jonas is looking to face the biggest names possible in 2023.
Last Saturday night in Manchester, Jonas added the IBF title to the WBO and WBC belts with a dominant ten round unanimous decision win over Marie-Eve Dicaire.
Earlier this year, Jonas jumped up by several weight classes to compete at junior middleweight.
In February, she knocked out Chris Namus to capture the WBO title on Kell Brook vs. Amir Khan undercard. Seven months later, she decisioned Patricia Berghult for the WBC title.
BOXXER’s Ben Shalom, who promotes Jonas, believes her accomplishments in 2022 have earned her ‘Fighter of The Year’ honors.
“It’s been an incredible year,” Shalom told Sky Sports. “Three world title fights in one year, separately, and she’s won all three at 154 [pounds] – it’s incredible.
“It’s unbelievable to think we were in Manchester for Khan-Brook in February and she won her first world title, now she’s headlined and won her third world title. For me, she has to be fighter of the year in all of British boxing – possibly in world boxing. It’s unprecedented and something no one could have predicted.”
Now Shalom wants to match Jonas in a rematch with undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor – likely at 140 or a showdown with undisputed welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill.
“I think we’ve seen she’s the one who has pushed her [Taylor] so, so close in a difficult environment, behind closed doors – perhaps, now looking back, not at the weight she feels most comfortable at,” Shalom said of Jonas. “I think she deserves a rematch and I think that’s the fight British fans would be most excited about.
“She just wants the big names now. She’s achieved all she could, and she’s done everything since she became one of the first Olympians we’ve ever seen in women’s boxing. To achieve her dreams to become unified world champion, it’s just the big names whether it’s Shields, McCaskill or Taylor. For me, McCaskill and Taylor make the most sense.”