Katie Taylor has told Delfine Persoon to 'learn how to box' ahead of their highly anticipated rematch for the undisputed lightweight championship.
The Bray boxer defeated the Belgian in controversial circumstances at Madison Square Garden in June 2019 and they meet again on the undercard of Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin on August 22.
Speaking ahead of the bout, Taylor told Sky Sports: "She needs to learn how to box. That's probably why she lost in the Olympic qualifier against an unranked amateur fighter.
"She's the type who would say Floyd Mayweather runs as well, but he's the best boxer of his generation.
"It's called the sweet science."
The bout takes place at Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Fight Camp, which has hosted a number of events in recent weeks, and the promoter says Taylor is 'fuming' ahead of it.
He told Off the Ball AM: "It's strange seeing Katie in a grudge match isn't it?
"I did a press conference the other night on Zoom with the pair of them and you could cut the tension with a knife.
"I mean, Katie can be cold, because when you meet someone that is so driven and so single-minded in her life about what she wants but all of a sudden you've got this other fighter coming in calling her a 'paper champ', 'overrated', saying 'she runs.'
"I could just feel Katie fuming, basically.
"She really wants to win this fight. The first fight at Madison Square Garden was one of the best fights I've ever seen."
In recent weeks, Persoon has called on Taylor to go in for the kill then the pair meet again and show that 'two women can have a spectacular fight'.
"If we had rounds of three minutes it would be better for me," Persoon told Sky Sports.
"I know she wouldn't box with me for three minutes. She will run.
"In the first fight there was a lot of holding, holding, holding. In another country they would tell you: 'Don't hold' then take away a point. But they never spoke about her holding me.
"In the fourth round her trainer said: 'Grab her arms!'
"Is she going to run and grab me? For the people, that is not a good fight.
"Ten rounds of running with one or two punches is not a fight that people want to see.
"Take the first punch, answer, jab, come in, go out.
"Katie throws one shot, runs away, then grabs.
"I hope she wants a nice fight - two boxers to go for it, and the best boxer wins. Let's show that two women can have a spectacular fight.
"But I don't think she will."
Breaking down their June 2019 clash, Persoon claims that Taylor 'did not do enough' to win the fight and that she could have finished the Irishwoman if the fight had gone on a further 30 seconds.
"The first fight? We think we won," Persoon added.
"Look at who worked the most. Look at the last moment of every round. Look at the beginning of the fight - one round for her, one for me, not all of the rounds were hers.
"We have looked at the fight again. For us, she did not do enough.
"It is life. Not everything is always correct - not just in sport, but in life. Not everybody gets chances to work or to study. There are a lot of things in life that are not correct.
"It's going to be difficult, I know. But I hope for a correct decision.
"I don't know if the next fight will be similar, maybe it will be difficult. I hope the best boxer can win because, in the last fight, Katie had a lot of problems in the last round.
"Time the last round - it was 30 seconds too short. And 30 seconds in the dark is a long time to survive. In 30 seconds I can finish the fight."
