(MAR 27) Former Olympic
Gold medallist and 5 time World champion Katie Taylor extended
her recent ‘winning streak’ in the Pros to 4 from 4 with a
comprehensive win over former IBF Super Featherweight challenger
Bulgaria’s Milena Koleva in an eight-rounder on the undercard of
the Jorge Linares vs Anthony Crolla world title fight at the
Manchester Arena on Saturday night.
A sell-out 15,000 crowd was
particularly good news for promoters Matchroom bearing in mind
it was LIVE on Sky Sports TV in the UK & Ireland. Several rounds
from the women’s fight were later shown on Showtime in the
United States and in Venezuela.
The 30 years old from Bray had her opponent on the canvas in the
penultimate round and not surprisingly had her hand raised in
victory having won all eight rounds for an 80-72 points victory.
Taylor's previous fight was only on 4 March, when she stopped
Italian Monica Gentili at the O2 Arena in London. She’s hoping
for another three or four bouts in the coming months.
Promoter Eddie Hearn is hoping she can land a world title fight
by the end of the year, perhaps even as early as September and
possibly at Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Some fans and one or two media are becoming impatient and want
her to fight for a world title now but this would be pretty
foolish for someone who is learning her trade in the Pro sport
and has never fought more than six round before this weekend.
Coach/trainer Enamait and Irish Manager Brian Peters will not be
rushed and will move at the pace they are comfortable with – so
too her English team at Matchroom boxing.
She told ‘Irish Independent’ correspondent Sean McGoldrick :
“I definitely felt in great shape going into the fight. I was
getting great sparring over in the States doing eight, three
minute rounds with 30 seconds break,” said Taylor “Obviously I
would have loved to get the stoppage but speaking to Ross (Enamait,
her coach-trainer) and Brian (Peters, her Irish manager) I was
delighted to get the eight rounds. They will do me the world of
good.”
“Boxing the eight rounds felt fine. It’s great that I’m staying
busy. I love the fact that I’m busy. I feel like one of the
old-time boxers, boxing nearly every week,” she quipped.
How did coach-trainer Ross Enamait feel about her performance in
Manchester?
“She got eight rounds in and a legitimate knockdown. She hurt
her pretty good, so it was a solid win.
“She started out and just kind of saw what was in front of her
which is kind of what we set out to do. We didn’t want her to go
out and let it all go in the first round and run out of gas.
“I thought the pace was good, she picked it up when she needed
too,” he said.
Top British boxer Tony Bellew later spoke of his admiration for
Taylor:
"I am a Katie Taylor fan," Bellew told Sky Sports.
"She's an absolute class act with the punches she throws and the
variety in her shots. She is just the full package. She is a
breath of fresh air and she is fantastic for the sport.
Tony Bellew on Katie Taylor
"She's not in it for the short haul she's in it for the long
game, and when I see her, I'm looking at the Anthony Joshua of
her weight division. She's going to be running this game real
soon, she really is.
"She will become the face (of women's boxing) something like
what we've seen with someone like Ronda Rousey in the UFC.
"I believe someone like Katie Taylor is here for the long-haul.
It's going to take somebody very, very special to dethrone her."
Next up for Katie is a bout on the undercard of the World
heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir
Klitschko on Saturday, April 29 at Wembley Stadium before an
already “sell out” crowd of 90,000 fans outdoors at the home of
English football. Joshua and Taylor both struck Gold in the
London Olympics of 2012.
Again we will not know the proposed opponent until a week or so
before the fight and once more it will be shown LIVE on Sky in
UK and in Ireland and hopefully in other countries too. More
news on that as we have it.
