JENNIFER HAN HAD signed to fight on the same card as Katie Taylor’s subsequently cancelled bout versus Amanda Serrano at Manchester Arena last May only for the pandemic to rob her of a career-biggest opportunity: a televised fight and a tee-up to face whoever emerged victorious between Ireland’s undisputed lightweight champion and the Puerto Rican seven-weight world champion disputing that very notion.
By the time the card was rescheduled for August, Delfine Persoon had subbed in for Serrano and for Han, getting from the States to the UK at the height of international travel restrictions proved unfeasible.
Her big chance had come and gone.
On the back of that disappointment, though, came elation on a personal level. Han and her husband decided to have their second baby. “My life can’t just stop, right?” she says.
Nolan Liam, younger brother to Ryan Moses, was born this February. And yes, that does sound a little bit Irish. “Well, my husband’s name is Ryan McShane and my mother was German-Irish, so…” Han smiles.
Husband McShane is ex-military but for the last couple of months, he’s been a full-time father to facilitate Han in focusing on the most important training camp of her career. “Daddy has stepped up to the plate,” she says. “It’s only going to be for a little while, but right now, he has stopped everything to help me.”
Unarmed combat is in the Han blood, meanwhile: Jennifer’s Korean-born father, Bae, who moved to the States 45 years ago, is a karate master. Jennifer herself works as an instructor in the family martial arts school. Her younger brother Abraham is a professional boxer with a record of 26 wins (16KOs) and six losses (1KO). Her younger sisters, Izzy, and twins Stephanie and Heather, were all amateur boxers: Stephanie fought for the States once upon a time.
Jennifer, meanwhile, now 38, was a three-time Golden Gloves national champion. She reached the quarter-finals at the inaugural Women’s World Championships in Scranton in 2001. As a professional, she reigned as the IBF featherweight world champion between 2015 and last year.
She’s had her eye on Saturday’s opponent since long before Eddie Hearn first dialed her up last spring.
“Being a female fighter myself, I followed the Olympics closely,” says Han, a native of El Paso, Texas. “To be honest, the Olympics was always a goal of mine. I waited in 2000, 2004, 2008 — and it still hadn’t happened. I turned pro in 2009 because even when women’s boxing became an Olympic sport in 2012 (officially confirmed in 2009), my weight class — featherweight — wasn’t one of the divisions included.
“It’s not a huge regret because there was nothing I could do about it, but it was a huge dream and when women’s boxing was eventually included in the Olympics, I followed it very, very closely. I was so, so proud of the US team: Claressa Shields winning gold, Marlen [Esparza] winning bronze… But also, of course, Katie Taylor winning that gold medal.
“My sister, Stephanie, fought at lightweight so of course, I knew who Katie Taylor was. I followed her success and as a female competitor, I was very, very proud of her accomplishments.”
In May, just over a year on from their first effort to make the fight, Taylor’s team again approached Han [18-3-1, 1KO] — the mandatory challenger for Taylor’s IBF belt — about a potential fight in July, which was too soon considering Nolan Liam had only arrived in February.
When they tried again for 4 September, however, Han didn’t have to think twice — despite the fact that when she put the phone down, she weighed 210 pounds; 75 pounds over the lightweight limit with just four months until taking to the scales in Leeds.
“Honestly, I was ready to walk away from boxing when I was pregnant with my first son two years ago. I was defending my belt but not getting the opportunities; working so hard but I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere. I was so disappointed in boxing.
“I actually only came back to boxing to lose weight. And as I was losing weight, my coach was impressed: he said I was sparring better than ever and that I needed a fight.
“This time around, yes, of course, training camp has been a challenge. I mean, everybody has to lose weight during a training camp — but not 75 pounds kind of weight!” she laughs.
“But I had the best team working with me. They gave me a nutrition plan which allowed me to get back into shape pretty quickly but without injuring my body. When you stretch out that much and you try to get back, you have to be careful because a lot of things can happen. But we’ve already gone through the tough stuff. Now, the fun starts. I’m ready. I’m ready. It’s been worth it — it’s all worth it for this opportunity.
“I’ve worked for this kind of opportunity for my entire life,” Han continues. “When I was the defending IBF featherweight world champion, I wanted to fight on big shows, I wanted to fight on TV, but it is what it is: I didn’t get those opportunities.
“So, I jumped at this one.
Katie Taylor is the best fighter on the planet, pound for pound. But I have a lot of experience, I have a great support system with my team, and we’ve studied Katie. I know she has flaws just like many of the other fighters I’ve fought. I’m not taking anything away from her: she’s an amazing, outstanding fighter. She’s done it all with a huge spotlight in her face. But everybody makes mistakes and I plan on capitalising on those mistakes.
“I don’t think she’s every fought somebody as technically focused as me. I don’t plan on fighting Katie Taylor’s fight. I don’t plan on standing in front of her and letting her do what she does best.”
Having arrived into Leeds earlier this week, Han says she misses her children “terribly”. She speaks to them on the phone every day. The two-year-old Ryan Moses, especially, can’t wait for her to come home.
Of course, her boys will realise one day that, in more ways than one, they are a significant reason for Mom crossing the Atlantic for this fight in the first place.
“When they’re old enough to understand what my career is, I hope that I make them proud,” says Han. “I hope that they know they can set goals for themselves — and that if they work hard, they can reach them. This is my legacy for them.”
Han is also fighting for the honour of a city of almost 700,000 people, so many of whom will figuratively be in her corner when they tune into DAZN for the biggest fight of her career on Saturday afternoon, their time.
Last year, El Paso Times readers voted Han — the city’s only ever professional boxing world champion — onto their Mt Rushmore of sporting icons. She finished second in the voting behind the legendary schools soccer coach Bruce Reichman.
And if Han is to create a biblical upset at Leeds’ Headingley Stadium tomorrow night, the people of El Paso will have been at the heart of it.
“My community has always been there for me — they’ve always supported me and they’ve always been proud of me.
As well as my team and my family, I have gotten so much support from the local boxers in the area: they’ve stepped up to the plate to help with training, with sparring. I’ve gone to so many gyms. I can’t thank them enough. I appreciate them, I love them, and I also want to do this for them.
“This is definitely a community effort — it’s not ‘me, me, me.’ It’s ‘team.’ And this is it. All the pieces are coming together and I’m so excited.”
Originally published at 12.04
