Like Holm, Han and trainer Burke all in for a rematch

Las Cruces’ Louie Burke was sightseeing in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, three days after he worked the corner for Stephanie Han in the El Paso boxer’s victory over Albuquerque’s Holly Holm in San Juan — still savoring his and Han’s success in retaining her WBA (135-pound) lightweight title.

How did they do it? 

“I told Stephanie, ‘Just fight like Stephanie,” Burke, Han’s longtime trainer, said in a phone interview while dodging traffic in downtown San Juan. “Just what she does naturally and has done through the years.

“Just sharpened her up, brought in some good sparring partners.” 

There was a bit more to it than that, Burke acknowledged, but added, “I don’t want to give too much away, obviously, because we might have a rematch.”

Rematch? That seems appropriate, since Saturday’s bout, scheduled for 10 rounds, came to an abrupt end after a seventh-round unintentional clash of heads inflicted a cut high on Han’s forehead. On the ring physician’s advice, referee Luis Pabon halted the contest.

As frustrated as Holm clearly was, trailing on all three official scorecards (by margins difficult but not impossible to overcome), Burke said on Tuesday that he and Han felt the same way.

“We thought we were on the way to a solid win, and (the stoppage) kind of ruined it for us as well,” Burke said. “We’ll take the win, but it takes a little shine off it, for sure.”

Both fighters lobbied for a rematch after Saturday’s bout. In a phone interview on Tuesday, Lenny Fresquez, Holm’s agent, said Holm remains all in for a rematch but has other options she could pursue.

Fresquez said the Global Fight League, an MMA promotion that signed Holm to a contract in January 2025, has re-acquired funding it had lost and appears near becoming a reality. Holm, a 14-time world champion boxer, left the sport in 2013 to focus on MMA, in which she won a UFC title. She returned to boxing in June with a victory over Mexico’s Yolanda Vega after signing with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, which staged Saturday’s card in San Juan.

Holm has one more fight on her contract with MVP.

Assuming there’s a rematch with Han, Fresquez said, “I can guarantee, the second fight is gonna be different.”

Most Valuable Promotions has made no concrete plans regarding a rematch. But MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian posted the following on X: “Right call on Han vs. Holm (regarding the stoppage) and we will support the rematch assuming both fighters want it.”

Supportive is one thing, happy is another. It was no secret — and in fact was said out loud during the streaming on DAZN of Saturday’s card — that MVP had big plans for Holm that didn’t involve her losing to Han. 

During fight week, it seemed as if Ireland’s Katy Taylor, the super lightweight (140-pound) world champion, was mentioned more often than Han was. A Holm-Taylor fight might well have been in the offing. 

Burke and Han were well aware. 

“They definitely overlooked us,” Burke said. “… We saw some people, the executives of MVP (after the fight). They were right next to us, and they were not very happy with the outcome.

“But, hey, I love to throw wrenches.”

Burke compared Han’s victory to that of Las Cruces’ Austin Trout — with Burke in Trout’s corner — over Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden in 2012.

Like Han on Saturday, Trout entered that fight as the champion but as the underdog. Like Han, Trout won by unanimous decision.

“That,” Burke said, “is what makes the game interesting.”