The fight that Sandy Ryan craved from the moment she moved up in weight is now firmly in her grasp.

Matchroom Boxing confirmed earlier Wednesday that a deal was reached for Ryan to next face lineal and unified welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill. A date and location was not yet set for their WBA, WBC and WBO unification bout, though the mental preparation has already begun for a fight that could change the life of one boxing’s rising talents.

“This fight gives me another level of obsession,” Ryan told BoxingScene.com. “Jess, her name and what she’s done for the sport is gonna bring out the best in me.”

Two-way credit is due in a fight that was teased for months.

The ageless McCaskill (12-3, 5KOs)—38 years young in actual years—used the opportunity to ink a second promotional deal with Matchroom, who signed Derby’s Ryan (6-1, 2KOs) in 2021 following her brilliant amateur career.

Chicago’s McCaskill now has the opportunity to regain the WBO title that was stripped from her possession in the extended aftermath of her loss to undisputed 140-pound queen Chantelle Cameron last November. She entered the fight as the undisputed welterweight champion, but a silly law by both the WBO and IBF leaves champions unprotected when they suffer a loss in another weight division.

McCaskill was also relieved of the IBF belt, which is at stake in a vacant title fight between Natasha Jonas—who temporarily moves down from her unified 154-pound title reign—and Canada’s Kandi Wyatt this Saturday in Manchester, England.

Ryan seized the vacant WBO welterweight title in a ten-round, unanimous decision win over unbeaten Marie Pier Houle on April 22 in Cardiff, Wales. Her primary target immediately after the win was a shot at McCaskill’s lineal championship and the two belts still in her possession.

“We have huge respect to Jessica & her team for accepting this fight,” Paul Ready, Ryan’s career-long manager and director of STN Sports, told Boxing Scene. “I’m expecting the best version of Jessica who pushed Katie Taylor at York Hall for 10 rounds (in their December 2017 WBA lightweight title fight).

“Sandy is built for this stage and these nights. She’s ready to collect more world titles.”

Ryan’s aforementioned victory over Houle was her third straight since an upset split decision defeat to former titlist Erica Farias (27-5 at the time) in just her fourth pro bout last March 12 in Nottingham, England. She immediately avenged the setback with a ten-round win just five months later to ignite the current win streak enjoyed by the 29-year-old Englishwoman who views a fight with McCaskill as a key part of her plan to conquer the world.  

“One fight at a time but I want to become the number one female in the world,” insisted Ryan.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox