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Boxing legend Katie Taylor has her opponent for her retirement fight, and it’s not Holly Holm.
What, then, are Holm’s options after her controversial loss to Stephanie Han on May 30? A return to MMA seems the mostly likely route to that one “big fight” the 44-year-old Albuquerque fighter and former UFC champion craves before she, too, retires.
It was announced on Friday that Ireland’s Taylor (25-1, five knockouts) has agreed to fight France’s Flora Pili (12-0, two KOs) in Dublin on Sept. 5.
“This is going to be the most iconic moment of my career,” Taylor said at a Friday news conference, as reported by The Athletic and other outlets. “… This is just the perfect way to end my career.”
Before Holm’s loss to Han in El Paso, it was widely speculated that Taylor would make her farewell appearance in the ring against Holm — a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame (Holm) against a cinch future Hall of Famer (Taylor). It has been no secret that, over the years, Taylor’s management has repeatedly inquired about Holm’s availability for such a fight.
A story published online by the Irish Times on Friday mentioned Holm, along with Chantelle Cameron, who handed Taylor her lone professional defeat in 2023, as having been potential opponents for Taylor’s last fight.
Instead, it’s Pili. The World Boxing Council mandated this matchup as a bout for the organization’s interim super lightweight (140-pound) title. Pili is No. 1 contender. England’s Sandy Ryan, who holds that title, is pregnant and has been designated the “champion in recess.”
Other super lightweight titles held by Taylor (IBF, WBA, WBO) will also be at stake on Sept. 5.
Matchroom Boxing, headed by Englishman Eddie Hearn, will promote the Sept. 5 card. Matchroom was Taylor’s original promoter, having signed the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and five-time amateur world champion in 2016.
Most Valuable Promotions, to which Holm is contracted for one more fight, had promoted Taylor’s most recent fight — a victory by majority decision over Amanda Serrano in New York on July 11, 2025. MVP promoted that bout, further fueling speculation that a victory for Holm (34-4-3, nine KOs) over Han would lead to a Holm-Taylor showdown.
Even after Holm's loss, the disputed nature of the outcome, with the vast majority of observers believing the decision should have gone to her, Holm-Taylor still seemed an outside possibility.
Until Friday.
A phone message left on Friday for Lenny Fresquez, Holm's longtime agent and Albuquerque promoter, went unanswered.
Before and after the Holm-Han fight in El Paso, won by Han via hotly disputed majority decision and in which Han retained her WBA lightweight (135-pound) title, a possible MMA rematch between Holm and Ronda Rousey was widely discussed. Holm defeated Rousey by second-round TKO on Nov. 14, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia — taking Rousey’s UFC lightweight (135-pound) title belt, an outcome still viewed as one of MMA’s greatest upsets.
Rousey returned to MMA on May 16 after a 10-year absence with a first-round submission victory (armbar) over Gina Carano on a card promoted by MVP. Rousey said after the Carano fight that she had no intention of fighting again, but later said she would “clean (Holm’s) clock” if a rematch were to happen.
In any case and in either sport, a deeply disappointed Holm said after the fight in El Paso, “I still want the big fight.”
Han (13-0, two KOs), meanwhile, appears destined for a lightweight title unification fight against England’s Caroline DuBois (13-0-1, five KOs), who holds the WBC and WBO titles.
Dubois attended the May 30 card as a guest of MVP and called Han out during the post-fight press conference.
Han, too, had been mentioned as a possible opponent for Taylor’s last fight — “everybody wants to fight Katie Taylor,” she said — but seemed more than amenable to fighting Dubois.
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What, then, are Holm’s options after her controversial loss to Stephanie Han on May 30? A return to MMA seems the mostly likely route to that one “big fight” the 44-year-old Albuquerque fighter and former UFC champion craves before she, too, retires.
It was announced on Friday that Ireland’s Taylor (25-1, five knockouts) has agreed to fight France’s Flora Pili (12-0, two KOs) in Dublin on Sept. 5.
“This is going to be the most iconic moment of my career,” Taylor said at a Friday news conference, as reported by The Athletic and other outlets. “… This is just the perfect way to end my career.”
Before Holm’s loss to Han in El Paso, it was widely speculated that Taylor would make her farewell appearance in the ring against Holm — a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame (Holm) against a cinch future Hall of Famer (Taylor). It has been no secret that, over the years, Taylor’s management has repeatedly inquired about Holm’s availability for such a fight.
A story published online by the Irish Times on Friday mentioned Holm, along with Chantelle Cameron, who handed Taylor her lone professional defeat in 2023, as having been potential opponents for Taylor’s last fight.
Instead, it’s Pili. The World Boxing Council mandated this matchup as a bout for the organization’s interim super lightweight (140-pound) title. Pili is No. 1 contender. England’s Sandy Ryan, who holds that title, is pregnant and has been designated the “champion in recess.”
Other super lightweight titles held by Taylor (IBF, WBA, WBO) will also be at stake on Sept. 5.
Matchroom Boxing, headed by Englishman Eddie Hearn, will promote the Sept. 5 card. Matchroom was Taylor’s original promoter, having signed the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and five-time amateur world champion in 2016.
Most Valuable Promotions, to which Holm is contracted for one more fight, had promoted Taylor’s most recent fight — a victory by majority decision over Amanda Serrano in New York on July 11, 2025. MVP promoted that bout, further fueling speculation that a victory for Holm (34-4-3, nine KOs) over Han would lead to a Holm-Taylor showdown.
Even after Holm's loss, the disputed nature of the outcome, with the vast majority of observers believing the decision should have gone to her, Holm-Taylor still seemed an outside possibility.
Until Friday.
A phone message left on Friday for Lenny Fresquez, Holm's longtime agent and Albuquerque promoter, went unanswered.
Before and after the Holm-Han fight in El Paso, won by Han via hotly disputed majority decision and in which Han retained her WBA lightweight (135-pound) title, a possible MMA rematch between Holm and Ronda Rousey was widely discussed. Holm defeated Rousey by second-round TKO on Nov. 14, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia — taking Rousey’s UFC lightweight (135-pound) title belt, an outcome still viewed as one of MMA’s greatest upsets.
Rousey returned to MMA on May 16 after a 10-year absence with a first-round submission victory (armbar) over Gina Carano on a card promoted by MVP. Rousey said after the Carano fight that she had no intention of fighting again, but later said she would “clean (Holm’s) clock” if a rematch were to happen.
In any case and in either sport, a deeply disappointed Holm said after the fight in El Paso, “I still want the big fight.”
Han (13-0, two KOs), meanwhile, appears destined for a lightweight title unification fight against England’s Caroline DuBois (13-0-1, five KOs), who holds the WBC and WBO titles.
Dubois attended the May 30 card as a guest of MVP and called Han out during the post-fight press conference.
Han, too, had been mentioned as a possible opponent for Taylor’s last fight — “everybody wants to fight Katie Taylor,” she said — but seemed more than amenable to fighting Dubois.
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