6 days Ago
Katie Taylor edged Amanda Serrano in their highly anticipated rematch on Friday night as the co-main event on the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul event in Arlington, Texas. The event drew more than 60 million viewers, and one of them is current PFL SuperFights champion Cris Cyborg.
After Taylor’s narrow win over Serrano, Cyborg took to social media to challenge the former to a boxing-vs-MMA match. Cyborg called it the female version of Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou.
Cyborg competed at 145 pounds but says she can cut weight to 140 pounds to make the fight happen. Cyborg knows she’ll need an injection of monetary fuel to get the fight done, so she tagged boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh. Taylor didn’t respond to call out yet, but if she is willing to take Cyborg up on her offer, here’s why it’s not an unrealistic concept.
Cyborg is now under contract with the Professional Fighters League because it absorbed Bellator, where the MMA pioneer was the latter’s world champion. Cyborg defeated PFL champion Larissa Pacheco in October to unify the titles. The PFL, which also has an MMA contract with Serrano, Paul, and Claressa Shields, has never stood in the way of its athlete’s desire to pursue other combat sports interests.
Chances are–especially if there is Saudi involvement–the PFL would sign off on Cyborg competing in a high-profile boxing match. Eddie Hearn and Matchroom promote Taylor. The latter allowed Taylor to fight Serrano despite major tensions with Paul and his MVP promotional company.
You’d think Matchroom, which has an excellent relationship with Alalshikh, would be happy to book Taylor in a potentially profitable crossover event with Cyborg. Unlike Ngannou, Cyborg has a bit of boxing experience. Cyborg has three professional boxing matches in her combat sports career.
She won an exhibition match against Aria Wild in June by KO. So, I’m not sure how much of an exhibition it was in the Brazilian legend’s eyes. Here is a look at the KO.
Cyborg has won two f her boxing matches by KO and her power in MMA has long been a major aspect of her effectiveness. Taylor is 38 years old and Cyborg is 39. Both legends are near the end of the road of their careers.
However, both shined in their last outings which makes it a great time for this kind of event. If this fight happens, it would be the first crossover event between two female stars from their respective combat sports. Could it be a co-main event for a major show in Riyadh in 2025? Several combat sports fans would be onboard for this fight, and it wouldn’t feel as much like a farce as some of the other crossover fights we’ve seen.
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