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A women’s 10-round championship fight has been added to the inaugural edition of “The Global Titans Fight Series,” headlined by the ring return of Floyd “Money” Mayweather facing “Dangerous” Don Moore “in the skies of Dubai” on Saturday, May 14, as former unified champion Delfine Persoon of Belgium will take on France’s undefeated Elhem “The Diamond” Mekhaled for the vacant Female WBC silver super featherweight championship.
Persoon (46-3, 19 KOs) and Mekhaled (14-0, 2 KOs) will meet in one of the supporting bouts when Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) returns to face Moore (18-0-1, 12 KOs) in an eight-round, main-event exhibition matchup, outdoors on the helipad of Dubai’s opulent Burj Al Arab Hotel.
Presented by FrontRow in association with Mayweather Promotions, the event will also feature combatants such as UFC legend Anderson Silva facing fellow Brazilian fighting star Bruno Machado in an exhibition bout, as well as a sanctioned bout between former two-division world champion Badou Jack (25-3-3, 15 KOs) and Hany “Egyptian Hurricane” Atiyo (16-4, 12 KOs) from Dubai via Egypt.
Perhaps best known for her two-fight series against top pound-for-pound fighter Katie Taylor, Persoon, of Roeselare, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, held the Women’s WBC Lightweight Championship for five years and made nine successful defenses before losing a controversial decision to Taylor for the undisputed lightweight championship at Madison Square Garden in 2019. The rematch with Taylor was held in 2020 and Persoon lost a close decision.
Persoon, who works as a railway policewoman in her homeland, started professional boxing in 2009 after competing in judo. Ranked among the best female fighters on the planet, Persoon also held the IBF female lightweight title in 2012.
“It’s great to be back in the ring and I’m very excited to compete on an undercard for Floyd Mayweather,” said Persoon. “My opponent has a good record and I respect her taking this challenge, but I’m going to show her I’m at a different level. Just like I did against Katie Taylor, I’m going to bring the action from start to finish and do everything I can to have my hand raised.”
The undefeated Mekhaled hails from Vaulx-en-Velin, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France. In her five-year career, she has held the WBC interim female super-featherweight title, which she captured in March 2019 by defeating Spain’s Danila Ramos via 10-round unanimous decision, as well as the French and European Championships.
The fight against Persoon will be Mekhaled’s second outside her native France. The 31-year-old was last seen scoring a first-round knockout over Bosnia And Herzegovina’s Pasa Malagic to successfully defend her EBU (European) belt in September 2021.
“I’m on the path to a world title and this victory is going to catapult me toward my goal,” said Mekhaled. “It’s an honor to be fighting on a big card like this with Floyd Mayweather, and I’m planning to show everyone watching that I’m ready to become world champion.”