Katie Taylor ready to write new chapter

By the time the final bell rings on her professional debut tonight, Katie Taylor hopes that talk of Rio will be firmly in her past.

Just three months on from losing her Olympic crown, the 30-year-old lightweight takes to the ring for a first time as a professional, going up against Poland’s Karina Kopinska in a Sky Sports bout that has been afforded headline treatment in the promotional fight-week build-up.

Such hype is common in boxing, but relatively unusual for debutants, let alone a female boxer, and Eddie Hearn’s Matchoom Sports are banking on Taylor rediscovering the Midas touch she possessed prior to 2016 in an effort to revolutionise women’s pro boxing into a marketable sport.