Taylor ready to rumble in Cork as Olympic qualifier nears

Katie Taylor will make her first appearance in Cork tomorrow night in her penultimate bout in Ireland before she jets off for the 2012 World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, where she’ll be hoping to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

The fight at the Silver Springs Moran Hotel, pits the world No 1 against 2011 USA National Championships winner, Liz Leddy from Portland. Leddy was a homeless, alcoholic, school dropout before she turned to boxing in 1999, and by 2007 she had transformed herself into a top class athlete, scooping a silver medal at the USA Golden Gloves.

Just 24 hours after her meeting with Leddy, Taylor will take to the ring again, in Dungarvan, to face American prospect N’yteeyah Sherman.