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Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer
WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Natasha Jonas is attempting to win a world title in a second weight division.
Jonas will be fighting Kandi Wyatt for the vacant IBF welterweight title on July 1 in Manchester, England, on the Franchon Crews Dezurn-Savannah Marshall undercard. It will be the first fight for Jonas in 2023 and the first time she has fought at welterweight.
Jonas (13-2-1, 8 KO) last fought in November, when she beat Marie Eve Dicaire to defend her WBC and WBO titles and claim Dicaire’s IBF junior middleweight title. According to the IBF website, the IBF junior middleweight title is vacant, which means Jonas, ESPN’s No. 1 junior middleweight, has given up that belt to go for the welterweight title.
Jonas’ promoter, BOXXER’s Ben Shalom, said in a statement Jonas is attempting to hold belts at two weight classes — WBC and WBO middleweight and IBF welterweight — simultaneously, indicating she’s not trying to vacate her WBC or WBO titles at this time. But fighting at welterweight is closer to the 39-year-old’s natural fighting weight, as she fought the first five years of her career at junior lightweight and lightweight.
Wyatt (11-4, 3 KO) last fought in March when she beat Kirstie Bavington by split decision. The Canadian challenged for the undisputed welterweight title in 2021, losing to Jessica McCaskill, and has also been in world title fights for vacant WBO and WBA junior welterweight titles, losing to Christina Linardatou in 2019 and Kali Reis in 2020.
Wyatt, 32, is 10-0 when she fights in Canada and 1-4 when she fights outside of her home country. Prior to the win over Bavington, she lost three fights, including the losses to McCaskill and Reis.
Sandy Ryan holds the WBO belt at welterweight, and McCaskill still retains the WBA and WBC titles.