Undisputed: Katie Taylor now a headline act in every sense

Where once Taylor’s would be the token women’s bout on a card packed with men, tonight she headlines a show featuring three female world title fights

‘I’ve always wanted to make history, I’ve always wanted to leave a great legacy in the sport. I’m not sure how much I have changed, but women’s boxing has grown and grown. That this show is happening proves that,’ says Katie Taylor. Picture: INPHO/Matchroom Boxing/Mark Robinson

When Katie Taylor made her professional debut at the SSE Arena, Wembley, some accused Eddie Hearn, the promoter, of pushing a gimmick.

Four years later, Taylor is back and while she does not believe she has changed that much, the world has.

The world did not need much convincing. Whereas the idea of women being headliners in a boxing ring seemed far-fetched, now nobody bats an eyelid.

Nobody could deny Taylor’s talent, which had taken her to one Olympic gold medal and five World Championships medals. But changing times have led to a level of public interest in women’s professional boxing that few could have expected. Once Taylor’s would be the token women’s bout on a card packed with men, tonight she headlines a show featuring three female world title fights, as she defends her undisputed world lightweight title against Spain’s Miriam Gutierrez.

“It’s amazing to see how far the sport has actually gone,” Taylor said. “The fact that I am headlining a show with three world title fights on the card is incredible.

“The journey has been better than I expected, but I guess my focus has always been the same over the last four years. I’ve always wanted to make history, I’ve always wanted to leave a great legacy in the sport.

“I’m not sure how much I have changed, but women’s boxing has grown and grown. That this show is happening proves that.”

Oddly, lockdown has helped female boxing. One of the fears for promoters was whether there was the appetite from fans to pay to watch women box in significant numbers. The requirement to box behind closed doors has removed the need to sell tickets and when Hearn staged his Fight Camp series in the garden of his Matchroom company HQ in Essex during August, he put women front and centre.

Not only did Taylor feature on a pay-per-view show, winning a rematch with Delfine Persoon, but Terri Harper, who defends her WBC super-featherweight title against Katharina Thanderz tonight, headlined a show, while Rachel Ball, who is in the other world-title fight, got her big break.

Beating Persoon was a big deal for Taylor. Many believed she had been a fortunate winner when they had met at Madison Square Garden in New York the previous summer to unify the world lightweight title. The return was another close affair, but the Belgian had no complaints in defeat.

“It was important for me to close that chapter because if I had fought anyone else people would still have been bringing up the Persoon rematch,” Taylor said. “It was important for me to move on from that and to clear any doubts in people’s minds about who the best lightweight in the world was.

“I thought it was definitely a more convincing win second time round, I definitely boxed a lot smarter. It is never going to be an easy night against Persoon, she’s an awkward fighter but it was a very, very clear victory and I went away very, very happy.”

At 34, Taylor is at the top of the tree, a target for not just lightweights, but world champions beyond her division. The list of would-be foes goes beyond the sport too, with a match against Cris Cyborg, a Brazilian mixed martial arts superstar, under discussion.

There is definitely no shortage of big fights out there. I think every female fighter in the world is calling me out right now.

“When I started four years ago, people were asking if there were going to be enough good fights available. But right now, I could list 10 names off the top of my head of potential opponents. That is how healthy the sport is and that is a great position for me to be in.”

Boxing in a bubble can be slightly eerie. Outside the boxers’ direct team there will be no-one in the arena to cheer, nothing to drown out the sound of glove on head and body.

Nearly everyone who will be in the arena on fight night has been restricted to living on two floors of the Hilton Wembley, next door to the venue. It is all in the shadow of Wembley Stadium, where Ireland played England on Thursday night. Not that anyone would have known as the absence of fans gave the impression that nothing at all was happening.

The Ireland team had been staying on the floor above Taylor, in a separate bubble. A brief photo session was set up across the hotel’s deserted reception area. The football team gave Taylor a shirt. Taylor let them hold her belts.

Slight distractions aside, the bubble creates an intense atmosphere in the build-up, with boxers and their teams unable to escape the guarded environs even for a short walk. You might be able to schedule a different time in the gym, but there is always a chance of coming face to face with your opponent at breakfast or lunch.

Taylor is getting used to the seclusion. She was in a bubble ahead of the Persoon fight, then had to spend two weeks in quarantine on her return to Ireland and had just two weeks of freedom before heading back to her training camp in the US to begin preparing for Gutierrez.

“I was free for two weeks, then I was flying back over to Connecticut to prepare for this fight,” she said. “You have to take your opportunities during this climate because you really don’t know what might happen.

“It has been a frustrating year for a lot of fighters, so when the dates come up, you have to take them and that’s exactly what I have done this year. Everything is quite strange; I can’t wait for the world to get back to normal.

“When I am home, I just try to spend as much time with family as possible. My nieces and nephews, my granny, the whole gang. My focus when I go home is completely on the family. I’m not a party girl or anything, so I have no good stories to tell you.”

Gutierrez was next in line after claiming an interim version of the WBA title last year. Aged 37, the Spaniard had only had 13 professional bouts but won them all.

She had been a high-level kick-boxer, until a leg injury forced her to stick to using her fists, but she had enough of an amateur grounding to go to the World Championships in South Korea in 2014, where Taylor won the last of her gold medals. Gutierrez lost her opening bout there, beaten by Gulsum Tatar, a Turkish boxer who had shared the ring with Taylor seven times, winning three.

The amateur days seem a long time ago for Taylor now, even that glorious Olympic gold medal on the other side of London. It gave her an unrivalled grounding, but she is a different fighter now, a seasoned pro.

“I never once thought it was going to be an easy journey,” she said. “I was coming in expecting things to be a tough transition. It was me who had to make adjustments and the girls who have been professional a long time have that experience and know what professional boxing is all about.

“It was important I made the right decisions at the start and had the right people around me, as well as the right fights at the right time.

“People are expecting this to be an easy fight. I don’t. She is not that established or as well-known as some of the other fighters around, but she is better than a lot of people think she is. She’s good, very tricky, awkward. I never go into any fight thinking it is going to be easy. I’m expecting a tough fight.”

One of the things driving her on is a desire to go through her career undefeated. But there are still even bigger fights to be made, things to achieve. While that remains the case, Taylor is not thinking about life after boxing.

“I don’t like to put any limits on my career,” she said. “I just take it fight by fight. I have got no plans to retire, but at the same time I know I can’t do this forever. People haven’t seen the best of me yet. I feel like there is so much to improve on. It’s a great position to be in. I’m undisputed champion of the world with a lot to improve on.”