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Boxing: Holm-Han showdown set for Jan. 3 in Puerto Rico
Holly Holm, right, and Yolanda Vega engage in the traditional stare-down before their June 18 boxing match in Anaheim, Calif. Holm defeated Vega by unanimous decision.
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The second fight of Holly Holm’s second boxing career is scheduled for Jan. 3 in San Juan, Puerto Rico — a WBA lightweight title fight against champion Stephanie Han of El Paso.
The announcement was made Wednesday morning by MVP Promotions, a firm headed by boxer/influencer Jake Paul.
A Holm-Han bout has been on MVP’s to-do list since it signed Han to a contract in June, having first signed Holm in May.
This Southwest showdown had tentatively been planned for the fall, possibly in El Paso or Albuquerque. But a deep facial cut sustained by Han in her first fight for MVP, a victory by lopsided, unanimous decision over Colombia’s Paulina Angel on Aug. 23 in Orlando, prompted a change.
Holm, who turned 44 in October, was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2022 after an 11-year career that produced a 33-2-2 record (nine knockouts) and several world titles in three weight classes (140 pounds, 147 and 154). She’d moved on from boxing into MMA, and in November 2015 became the UFC bantamweight champion with a stunning upset by second-round TKO over previously unbeaten champion Ronda Rousey.
After an MMA career that produced a 15-7 record, Holm obtained her release from the UFC and, after other MMA opportunities fell through, opted for a return to boxing. She defeated Mexico’s Yolanda Vega by unanimous decision, winning all 10 rounds on all three official scorecards, in her MVP debut on June 28 in Anaheim, California.
“I feel great,” Holm said in an MVP press release. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to fight for a fourth weight division title (at 135 pounds) and add to my legacy on Saturday, January 3. I’m thankful for MVP and this opportunity and look forward to fighting in Puerto Rico, an island with a deep boxing culture.”
It’s clear that MVP likes a good back story, and Han (11-0, 3 KOs) provides just that.
The 35-year-old El Pasoan is of Korean heritage. She’s the mother of two, one a daughter with special needs. She’s an eight-year veteran of the El Paso Police Department and has competed in beauty contests.
Han is a member of boxing family. Her sister, Jennifer, won an IBF featherweight title before retiring in 2022. Her brother, Abie, compiled a 26-4-1 pro record while campaigning from 2007-18.
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Las Cruces’ Louie Burke has trained all three fighting Hans.
The Holm-Han fight is billed as a co-main event underneath a WBA/WBO title bout between champion Amanda Serrano, a Puerto Rico native, and Mexico’s Erika Cruz.
MVP announced on Wednesday that the Serrano-Cruz and Holm-Han fights will be contested with three-minute rounds rather than the two-minute rounds traditionally contested in women’s boxing.
The card is scheduled to be streamed on DAZN.
The Han fight will be Holm’s first boxing match scheduled outside the continental United States, though she competed as an MMA fighter in Australia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
