High-stakes Holm-Han rematch set for May 30 in El Paso

The rematch is on.

Most Valuable Promotions on Friday announced that World Boxing Association lightweight champion Stephanie Han will defend her title on May 30 against Albuquerque’s Holly Holm in Han’s hometown of El Paso.

The bout will be televised on ESPN, which, having reached a multi-year agreement with MPV, is jumping back into the boxing ring.

Han had successfully defended her title with a victory over Holm in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Jan. 3.

That fight was stopped in the seventh of 10 scheduled rounds when Han suffered a cut above her right eye as the result of an unintentional clash of heads. Han, leading comfortably on all three official scorecards, was declared the winner by technical decision.

All parties — Team Han, Team Holm, the promoters — agreed that a rematch was appropriate. The announcement was made at a news conference Friday at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The news conference was staged in New York because MVP’s main purpose was to announce its multi-year agreement with ESPN.

MVP also announced an April 17 world featherweight title fight at MSG’s IInfosys Theater between unified champion Alycia Baumgardner and challenger Bo Mi Re Shin.

Friday’s MVP news release did not identify a site for the rematch between Han (12-0, three knockouts) and Holm (34-3-3, nine KOs). But Las Cruces’ Louie Burke, Han’s trainer, told the Journal in a phone interview that he’s been told the card will be staged at the El Paso County Coliseum.

Burke said he’s confident his fighter will prevail once again — citing boxing’s traditional “styles make fights” mantra.

“I just feel (Han) has Holly’s number,” Burke said. “… I think she has a style that gives Holly a hard time. She moves in and out very well. She calculates distance very well. I just feel she has what it takes to beat Holly.

“I’m not overlooking that there’s going to be some adjustments made (by the Holm camp). I just feel that Holly’s style is made to order for Stephanie.”

Albuquerque’s Lenny Fresquez, Holm’s agent and longtime Albuquerque promoter, said fans didn’t see Holm at her best in the first fight against Han.

Holm is highly motivated, Fresquez said, to reverse the outcome this time.

“I don’t think she was herself (in Puerto Rico),” he said. “… Holly knows what’s at stake here. There are some very, very big things that can happen for her when she wins.”

Holm is no stranger to rematches, having fought 11 as a boxer and one as an MMA fighter. She’s 9-1-2 in those fights, once avenging a loss to French boxer Anne Sophie Mathis.

Han has yet to fight a rematch as a professional boxer.

Both fighters attended Friday’s news conference in New York.

“Last time the fight ended early because of the cut,” Han said. “I got the win, but not the closure.

“This time in my city, there will be no excuses, no ‘what ifs,’ and no doubt who the better fighter is.”

Holm offered no excuses for her loss in San Juan but echoed Fresquez’s confidence that May 30 in El Paso will produce a different outcome.

“She’s a disciplined, tough champion, and I respect that,” Holm said of Han. “I’ll be putting in the work, and I will be ready.”