Who is Jennifer Han?
Facts you need to know about Katie Taylor’ next opponent Jennifer Han
Irish superstar Katie Taylor (18-0, 6 KOs) defends her hoard of undisputed lightweight titles to Jennifer Han (18-3-1 1 KO) at Emerald Headingley Stadium in Leeds this Saturday, September 4, live worldwide on DAZN.
BBN decided to find out some little-known facts or UK fight fans to get to know Jennifer Han a little better:
Early Life
Jennifer was born June 25, 1983 (currently aged 38) in El Paso, Texas, America.
She went to Irvin High School then on to UTEP.
Family
Jennifer has four brothers and sisters – Abie; Izzy; Stephanie; Heather. Abie (Abraham) was also a pro boxer and came agonisingly close to beating Glen Tapia for the WBO NABO super-welterweight title in 2013; he also fought Anthony Dirrell in his last fight in 2018. He retired with a record of 26-4-1, 16KOs.
Her two young children are called Ryan Moses and Nolan Liam.
History-Maker
In 2015, Jennifer became the first world champion boxer from El Paso.
Amateur Career
Han won the 2004 USA National Championships and the Golden Gloves in the same year, and went on to become a six-time National Champion.
The Graduate
Scholar Han has a degree in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
Team Han
Han is trained by Louie Burke and Joe Hidalgo.
Pro Bow
Han made her professional debut on July 31, 2009, and actually lost via majority decision against Melissa St. Vil and the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, Mexico.
World Champion
In 2015, Han was due to face Helen Joseph for the vacant IBF World female featherweight title, but her opponent was unable to obtain a VISA to enter the US, so Fatuma Zarika stepped in as a late replacement and Han emerged victorious to win the IBF Inter-Continental belt instead.
The fight with Joseph was rescheduled for September 19 and Han captured her first world title with a unanimous decision to become the first world champion from El Paso.
It was her second attempt at world honours, having lost in 2014 for the same title to defending champion Ji Hye Woo.
Han defended her IBF strap four times before relinquishing in 2020.
Turning Down Taylor
Jennifer got the phone call to face Katie Taylor late in spring this year but had to say no due to just having a baby. Fortunately, she got another call back a few weeks later offering the fight in September, which she readily accepted.
Stats
Height: 5ft 6in
Reach: 66in
Wins: 18
Losses: 3
Draw: 1
KO Ratio: 4%
Rankings
As of July 2021, she was ranked as the world’s sixth best active female lightweight by BoxRec.
Fun Fact
Han claims to have ‘Mama Power’, which she explained as “If you can go through a 54-hour labour, you can do anything!”
Taylor vs. Han is part of a huge night of boxing in Leeds, Mauricio Lara (23-2, 16 KOs) and Josh Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) face each other again in a huge rematch for the Featherweight division, rising Welterweight star Conor Benn (18-0, 12 KOs) faces Adrian Granados (21-8-3, 15 KOs) after their Fight Camp Week 1 headliner fell through, Mexico’s Jovanni Straffon (24-3-1, 17 KOs) makes the first defence of his IBO Lightweight World Title against the in-form Maxi Hughes (23-5-2, 5 KOs), Australia's Ebanie Bridges (6-1, 3 KOs) looks to build on her impressive KO win over Bec Connolly at Fight Camp earlier this month when she meets Mailys Gangloff (5-2, 2 KOs), Super-Bantamweight prospect Hopey Price (5-0, 1 KO) steps up against Zahid Hussain (16-1, 2 KOs) in an all-Leeds clash, undefeated Super-Bantamweight talent Jack Bateson (13-0, 3 KOs) clashes with Felix Garcia (7-2-1, 3 KOs) over six rounds, 1-0 Super-Welterweight Brandon Stansfield takes on MJ Hall (2-61-2) and Light-Heavyweight Mali Wright makes his pro debut against Anthony Woolery (2-6).
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