Women’s boxing is at its very best at the moment, despite the challenges faced in just about every aspect of life amid the toughest crisis the world has ever known.

The sport has produced some incredible performers over the years, with the likes of Laila Ali, Lucia Rijker and Anne Wolf helping make women’s boxing a popular watch. However, the era we are in now is even better, with a number of fighters making names for themselves all over the world, so much so, women are actually considered to be setting the standard for boxing in general.

Of course, the discipline does have its detractors. Yet that fact has done little to slow the progression and women, who have long been at the fore when it comes to combat sports, are still pushing for excellence at top level.

As suggested above, women’s boxing is riding a major wave. Below is a list of some of the names who have been making a case for greatness in 2021.

Delfine Persoon

Delfine Persoon is one of the most well-known and respected female boxers around. She’s recognized as the fifth-best pound-for-pound female in the world. The Belgian lightweight, who turned pro in 2019, went on a 20-1 run before winning the IBF female lightweight title, beating Erin MacGowan in seven rounds to claim her first major title.

She got a match against Katie Taylor as part of the undercard at Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz in 2019, putting her WBC belt on the line as Taylor’s WBA, IBF, WBO and The Ring female lightweight belts went up for grabs. Taylor won by a decision and would have to face Persoon in a rematch, which she also won by slim margins.

Despite the losses, Persoon earned her respect for taking the woman considered to be the world’s best female boxer to her limit.

Jessica McCaskill

The Missouri native is undoubtedly one of the most feared boxers on the scene this year. McCaskill had a tough upbringing, which is likely to have contributed to her fiery, competitive nature. She learned not to take anything for granted at an early age, having lived a life on the streets after being abandoned as a child and raised by her great aunt.

Shaped by her pure survival instincts, Jessica showed persistence in the ring as an amateur and would go on to become one of the top female boxers in the world. She’s now the top welterweight around and is one of just two females to win lineal titles in two weight classes.

Amanda Serrano

Amanda Serrano is definitely a female fighter one should be putting money on every time she fights, with all of the major online sportsbooks offering odds on women’s fights. The Puerto Rican superstar boxer is one of the best out there, although she rubs lots of folks the long way.

Quite incredibly, Serrano is a nine-division champion and is the most decorated female boxer in history at the age of 32, which is younger than most of the top female boxers in 2021. Serrano’s prowess in the ring makes her an opponent even the best of male boxers would think twice about going up against.

It will be interesting to see how she does against Taylor, who seemed poised to go up against her before the COVID-19 pandemic began ravaging the planet last year.

Claressa Shields

Two-time Olympic gold medalist, Clraressa Shields, is the first woman to hold lineal championships in the history of the sport and is the only one to hold the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles in separate weight classes all at the same time. Shields is widely touted as the best pound-for-pound female boxer out there and is undoubtedly the top dog in her weight class.

Having dominated other fighters in her craft, Shields has branched out of MMA, defeating Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt Brittney Elkin via knockout just a few days ago at PFL 4.

Katie Taylor

Photo via: Wikimedia Commons

Taylor, Ireland’s top sportswoman for the month of May, is thought to be the best female boxer in the sport this year and there’s no doubting that she’s one of the best in the business. Taylor, the undisputed lightweight champion, is undefeated and is also regarded as the best pound-for-pound female star - The Ring and BoxRec certainly think so.

Katie’s father, Peter Taylor, was also a boxer. He won the Irish senior lightweight championship and would later train his daughter, who showed great athletic promise. She was an all-around sporting talent as a youth, playing Gaelic football and camogie for Bray Emmets and Fergal Ogs. She also played soccer and competed in track, going on to play for the Republic of Ireland’s women’s national team and earning 11 caps. She found a home in the ring and made quick work of the amateur scene in Europe before winning Olympic gold in 2012.

Now the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, it remains to be seen who could hand Katie her first defeat.