Taylor steps uo to light-welterweight

World and European lightweight champion Katie Taylor will step up to light-welterweight for her clash with England's Amanda Coulson in Waterford next month.

Lightweight Taylor, (60Kg), ranked number one in the World and Europe, meets Coulson, ranked 10th in the world, and 7th in Europe, in a 63Kg contest at the Dungarvan Sports Centre on March 2.

Taylor is also due to meet Russian born German national champion Ula Kultyshyla in a 60Kg fight at the Fermoy Boxing club in Cork this Friday, February 23.

Alannah Murphy, from the Eastside club in Belfast, will also be in the ring in Dungarvan to take on Fiona Hayes in a 66Kg contest.

Murphy won bronze at the Norway Box Cup last year and was also awarded bronze at the European Union Championships in June 2006 following her semi final defeat to Coulson in Sardinia Italy.

Taylor's meeting with European bronze medallist Coulson is the main bout of the evening in Dungarvan and her father and Irish coach Peter Taylor is predicting a top class box off.

He said: "England have named a strong squad for the meeting in Dungarvan and there should be some excellent contests on the night.

"However, we have a lot of experience in our selection and we are looking forward to next months meeting with confidence."

Taylor's last fight saw her beat world number three Eva Walstrom from Finland (20-4) at the National Stadium in Dublin on February 2.