Joe Gallagher wants to see Natasha Jonas take on Katie Taylor at Anfield next year and believes his fighter should be in the running for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Jonas added the IBF super-welterweight title to the WBO and WBC straps she already held with victory against Marie-Eve Dicaire over the weekend. The 38-year-old kicked-off the year by stopping Chris Namus to claim the WBO crown on the undercard of the clash between Amir Khan and Kell Brook in February.
Jonas then returned to Liverpool to beat Patricia Berghult for the WBC title on points in September before beating Dicaire at the AO Arena on Saturday night. Claressa Shields, Katie Taylor and Terri Harper have all been mentioned as possible opponents for Jonas to face in 2023, but Gallagher was quick to rule out his fighter facing the 26-year-old.
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“Don’t mention Terri Harper, that is right off the table. There is no point talking about that,” he jumped in when Jonas was asked about facing Harper.
Jonas first boxed Taylor in an epic Olympic quarter-final at London 2012 before the 36-year-old became just the second person to beat the Scouser in the professional ranks last year.
Speaking following Taylor's comfortable victory over Karen Carabaja last month, Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn insisted that Croke Park 'is the one' venue they want for her next bout.
It is now 50 years since a boxing event was held at Croke Park, an 82,300-capacity stadium that generally hosts GAA, but Gallagher also threw Anfield into the mix as a possible venue for the fight.
"Katie Taylor, we'd love to see that rematch, there's talk about Croke Park, let's do it at Anfield," he said.
“Natasha Jonas is the one that's come closest to beating Katie Taylor, when you go look at the scorecards. That's another fight to see, Jessica McCaskill or Claressa coming down."
Saturday’s victory capped off a year to remember for 'Miss GB' - and Gallagher believes his fighter should be in the running for a number of accolades this year.
“Two world titles in 10 weeks and three in the space of 10 months. What a story from Natasha Jonas,” he told the ECHO.
“I’ve said it to people that Natasha Jonas should be in the Comeback of the Year story and she should be up there for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
“I watched King Richard the other week about the Williams sisters and I think about the Jonas sisters, Nikita Paris and Natasha Jonas from Toxteth.
“One is scoring goals for the Lionesses and one is conquering the boxing world. I think Natasha should be up there for British Fight of the Year.
“That just shows how female boxing has come on and how much Natasha has come on. It wouldn’t have happened without Ben or Sky.”
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