By George Priestman: Saturday night will see Irish boxing sensation Katie Taylor as the main attraction on the Matchroom card when she takes on Miriam Gutierrez as she defends her four unified world title belts.
(Photo credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing).
The night of boxing itself is posed to become a historic night for women’s boxing, as alongside Taylor’s world title clash are two more women’s world title fights. Including Terri Harper defending her WBC super-featherweight title against Katharina Thanderz and Rachel Ball faces Jorgelina Guanini for the vacant WBA bantamweight title.
However, all eyes will be on one of the biggest stars in women’s boxing as she continues to keep winning and building towards her legacy in boxing.
Legacy in the career of a boxer is what separates the good from the great to the elite. Good fighters win world titles, and elite fighters do so across multiple weights fighting whoever, whenever, and wherever is needed.
Taylor has proved she will take on any challenge headfirst and with her already unifying the lightweight division winning all four belts plus being a two-weight world champion too. At the age of 34, the final years of her career (however long that may be) will be spent on seeking out those legacy, career-defining nights.
Boxing superstar Anthony Joshua has been a huge supporter of his fellow Matchroom colleague and was quoted this week claiming she is ‘special’ and someone who’s career will leave a lasting legacy in women’s boxing. In a Zoom press conference, she responded to the flattering comments.
“To hear that from such a legacy-building fighter himself, obviously that means so much. Anthony Joshua has always been such a huge supporter of myself over the last two years and women’s boxing too.”
“I’m very grateful for those comments. It’s always nice to hear nice things said about you and for it to come from someone like Anthony Joshua makes it even more special.”
As previously stated, she isn’t letting talk of future fight draw her focus from the task at hand come Saturday. However, with being the champion, it comes with the territory. Names have come up from Chantelle Cameron, Jessica McCaskill, and even MMA fighter Cristiane Justino Venâncio – otherwise known as Cris Cyborg.
When asked about future opponents, she spoke about the names mentioned but reaffirmed the idea that Katie Taylor will fight anyone, anytime and has no plans to retire anytime soon.
“Jessica Mccaskill is a huge fight, of course, there are so many girls out there, obviously the Chantelle Cameron as you mentioned as well.”
“There are fights for me up the weights, and there are a few great names for me in the Super Featherweight division as well, so there’s definitely no shortage of fights out there, which is fantastic.”
With her opponent on Saturday night being an overwhelming underdog, she still is unbeaten and has earned her shot at the world title by becoming the mandatory challenger. However, she has only beaten four opponents with a winning record and has never fought out of Spain.
It seems the task at hand for Gutierrez is a mammoth one, taking on arguably the best pound-for-pound women’s fighter of today. But Taylor is a consummate professional and is treating this fight as if it was any other.
“I think she’s very good. Obviously, she’s coming into this fight unbeaten as well. I know she’s not as well established as someone like Persoon or any of the other girls I’ve fought. I think she’s actually a lot better than people think. I’m expecting a really tough fight.”
“She can be really tricky at times, and very awkward as well, so these are the type of fighters that are very hard to look good against. I’m prepared for anything that comes my way, even going into the trenches if need be. I prepare for every fight as if it is my toughest fight, so this no different.”
Saturday stands as a big night for many, but none more so than women’s boxing as a whole. Perhaps the biggest women’s card that has ever been takes place at Wembley Arena with three women’s world title fights topping the bill.
To take things even further, Sky Sports have announced the fight will be free to view across other formats such as YouTube and Facebook, making the fight widely accessible to the general public. The end result is more eyes on the sport and wider outreach to grow the sport.
Whilst it is clearly a landmark night for the sport, Taylor is fully focused on the task at hand as she continues her stellar career and builds towards the legacy-defining nights. The Irish fighter will look to add to that fantastic rematch victory over Delfine Persoon to round off what would be a great 2020 under the circumstances.
Moving into 2021, there are plenty of possibilities for big fights, and Taylor would take on any and all challenges that come her way. Every fight and win is another step to solidifying her name and career, which will leave a lasting legacy on the sport.