The damage was visible but cosmetic and temporary, some bruising remaining on her face for more than a week. It was worth it for the prize Caroline Veyre received.
Last month, Veyre outpointed Delfine Persoon to capture the vacant WBC junior lightweight belt, her first world title. This wasn’t just the reward for one night and the 10 rounds of action. Nor was this the result solely of three and a half years of fighting professionally. For the 37-year-old Veyre, this world title was the outcome of a long time in boxing.
“I can’t wait to see what the future holds now,” Veyre told BoxingScene. “It means a lot, because it’s around like 20 years of hard work and dedication in my sport, and I never gave up despite a lot of hard times in my career. I’m just really proud that I still keep pushing, keep working hard.
“I feel like I really deserve it, because it was against a really hard opponent. Nobody wants to fight her. They’re scared of her, and rightfully so. So I’m proud of myself because I took the challenge. I fear no one. I want to fight anybody and I want to show them I’m the best.”
Veyre turned pro in 2022 at the age of 33 after an extended amateur career. She won gold in the 2015 Pan-American Games but didn’t compete in the 2016 Olympics. Veyre remained in the unpaid ranks and competed in 2021’s Tokyo Olympics. The Paris-born resident of Montreal represented Canada and made it to the quarterfinals of the featherweight tournament.
Veyre won her first seven pro fights before losing in September 2024 to the 6-5-1 Joana Chavarria Lopez. Veyre had turned pro with Groupe Yvon Michel but was now a promotional free agent. She promptly found a new home with Salita Promotions and fought on that company’s undercards, including two shows headlined by Claressa Shields.
Last July, Veyre outpointed the 24-3-2 Licia Boudersa down at featherweight. She then moved up to 130lbs to take on Persoon.
Persoon came in with a significant advantage in experience. The 41-year-old was 50-3 (20 KOs), and a former lightweight titleholder from Belgium.
In her time at 135, Persoon picked up the vacant IBF title in 2012 but never defended it. She then captured the WBC belt in 2014 by outpointing Erica Anabella Farias. Persoon successfully defended that title nine times before losing a debated, razor-thin majority decision to Katie Taylor in a 2019 fight for the undisputed championship. Taylor-Persoon II took place in 2020 and ended with a unanimous verdict for the Irish star.
Persoon had earned six wins since, including a 2023 split decision over Bo Mi Re Shin, and two injury-shortened no-contests. Persoon was dropped early by Alycia Baumgardner in their September 2024 match, but it was a clash of heads in the fourth that brought the fight to a finish. In her most recent appearance, Persoon had won a sixth-round TKO last June against the 25-15-1 Ana Maria Lozano.
Veyre vs Persoon included plenty of awkward and ugly moments. Persoon had two points taken away for rabbit punches while Veyre received two deductions of her own for holding.
“I was expecting her to be a little awkward,” Veyre said. “I saw her fight before. I watched a lot of the [second] fight with Katie Taylor, because that’s the last one she lost, and I wanted to see what was working against her. So I used it a lot, and even when I wanted to box clean and move around and do my thing, she didn’t like it and she got really frustrated and she wanted to stop me doing that. So it got a little ugly in this fight, but I did what I had to do. You know, boxing is hitting without getting hit. So that’s what I tried to do, and I got the ‘W,’ so I'm really happy with that.”
Veyre thinks Persoon wanted to get in her head.
“It didn't work out, because I was really unbreakable mentally,” Veyre said. “I knew what I wanted to do. She tried to put doubts in my head, and it didn't work. I was still focused mentally on what I wanted to do in the ring and that’s how I was staying composed and in control of myself. So I think that made a big difference, because you could tell that she was losing control and her emotion got into her.”
After seeing the footage, the fight wasn’t as bad as Veyre initially recalled – the clinching and pushing to the canvas didn’t happen as often as she thought. The first six rounds were clearly hers, she believes.
“I was landing clean shots and I was winning those rounds,” she said. “Maybe there was two rounds tighter and then there was the two last rounds that I lost, but overall I think it was worse in my head.”
The final scores were 98-88 (a shutout with two points deducted from each), 95-91 and 94-92. Despite the point deductions, Veyre wasn’t concerned that the judges would rule for Persoon.
“I knew that she had some point deductions, too,” Veyre said. “I think the referee that night did a pretty good job. We were both guilty for different mistakes we were doing. So I think it was fair, and I was scared at some point that there was going to be a disqualification, maybe. But it didn't happen for both of us. I wasn't worried because I knew I was ahead on the scorecards.”
Veyre got the win. She got the world title. And she will get a chance to have a much more aesthetically satisfying fight the next time out.
“I’m just disappointed that I wasn’t able to do what I practiced for so many weeks in the gym,” Veyre said. “It was hard to do it against her, and I’m just disappointed with how the fight looked like. … I believe that my next fight is going to be different, and the next opponent’s style is going to match better with my style. I’m not worried for the next fight, because 90 per cent of my fights didn’t go this way.”
Veyre is looking forward to her first world title defense – the idea of a potential homecoming in Montreal excites her. She also wants to unify at junior lightweight. Veyre’s WBC belt previously belonged to Baumgardner, who vacated it and therefore is no longer considered undisputed at 130lbs. Baumgardner still has the remaining three world titles and is considered the queen of the weight class.
“I don’t know what Alycia’s plans are right now, so I’m just gonna do a title defense,” Veyre said. “They're talking right now about moving up in weight class, but if she’s still at 130, I think it would be a great fight. And I think I could beat her, actually.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
