Natasha Jonas admits she did not expect Katie Taylor headline fights 'for a long time'
Tuesday 22 May 2018 15:34, UK
Britain's Natasha Jonas admits she did not think Katie Taylor would be headlining UK fights "for a long time" but says it is a good thing for women's boxing.
Ireland's Taylor headlined for the first time as a professional in December 2017, defeating Jessica McCaskill to retain the WBA female lightweight title at York Hall.
"I didn't [think it would happen]. Not for a long time anyway," Jonas told Sportswomen as part of Sky Sports' new #ShowUp campaign.
"It goes to show the commitment of Matchroom and Sky. We need that support to keep growing as a sport."
Jonas lost to Taylor at the 2012 Olympics in London where she became the first female British boxer to fight at the Games, while the latter went on to claim gold.
The duo have been widely tipped to fight as professionals since they both signed to Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing, but a meeting has yet to materialise.
Jonas herself won the WBA International female super-featherweight title last month, defeating Taoussy L'Hadji in front of a home crowd at Liverpool Echo Arena on the undercard of Amir Khan v Phil Lo Greco.
On the subject of growing women's boxing, Jonas admitted that there is still progress to be made.
"It's all positive but we've got a long way to go. It's fairly new in Britain but we're getting support from promoters and the media. From when I started we've come a long, long way.
"I think we had to get rid of a lot of negative stereotypes. We knew as boxers that once people saw us competing at the Olympics that we would get that support. It was just about getting us out there."
Jonas, trained by Joe Gallagher, has won all six of her professional fights - five of which via knockout - after turning pro in April 2017, two years after the birth of her daughter, Mele.
The southpaw is the older sister of England and Manchester City striker Nikita Parris, and says that the #ShowUp campaign must "keep the momentum going" for women's sport.
"Every sport has their moments with the World Cup win in cricket, hockey gold at the 2016 Olympics and netball gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. You have to keep that momentum going."
#ShowUp is a new initiative from Sky Sports and the Women's Sport Trust to encourage support in women's sport by watching, attending or playing.
Sky Sports are giving away 5,000 tickets to women's sports events this year, with thousands of #ShowUp hairbands distributed to support the campaign.
Sky Sports and the Women's Sport Trust are asking you to take to social media and let us know how you are going to show up, what are you attending or going to watch this summer? #ShowUp @SkySports @WomenSportTrust
