Holly Holm shuts down boxing return despite Dana White’s potential new venture
Holly Holm is no longer interested in returning to boxing, despite Dana White’s recent announcement of a new venture.
Early last month, Dana White announced that he will be getting into boxing promotion. The UFC president even expressed interest in working with world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua under this new venture.
This new endeavor that will involve UFC big wigs could possibly give those under the roster the opportunity to transition into boxing, should they be interested. But for former boxing champion turned MMA star Holly Holm, competing inside the squared ring is already a thing of the past.
“I am done boxing,” Holm said during a media scrum at UFC 218 in Detroit over the weekend (via MMAjunkie). “I don’t have the passion for it anymore, and it hasn’t come back to me. Maybe that’s because I’m still fighting, so I don’t feel like I ever really retired.”
“I keep thinking, am I going to ache for it again? And I don’t,” she continued. “And it’s not because I don’t love boxing. I did, obviously. I did it for 10 years professionally. It’s just my new motivation is this new career I’ve been on.”
As of the moment, Holm is focused on the next assignment, which is her upcoming women’s featherweight title fight against Cris Cyborg at UFC 219. It is a challenge that the Jackson Wink fighter is confident about.
“I do feel I’m her toughest opponent to date, in an all-around way,” Holm said. “There might have been one fighter that had a bit of a ground game. She had one fighter with a clinch game.”
“But really, as far as the caliber of fighter and experience, I do feel like I’m somebody she hasn’t faced before, and that’s why this fight is going to be different.”
Holm and Cyborg will headline UFC 219 on December 30th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.