KATIE HAS AN EYE ON ALL BELTS
Stylish Taylor prefers to belt up than resort to trash-talk
PLANS are at an advanced stage for Katie Taylor’s homecoming fight in Dublin next April, with a unification bout against IBF lightweight champion Victoria Bustos in either the 3 Arena or the RDS.
Eddie Hearn, Taylor’s promoter, has begun preliminary discussions with Bustos’ management but the profile of the Bray fighter is already proving problematic as possible opponents are playing hardball in negotiations.
‘Money is the only issue,’ Hearn explained. ‘We have continuously had to over-pay opponents. We drastically over-paid the opponent on Wednesday and we will do the same for the next opponent. ‘But if we are going to Dublin, it has to be an occasion fight, it has to be a unification bout.’ Taylor added: ‘It is not my style to call anyone out but everyone is aware that I want to unify the division and that I want all the belts.’
Home is the hero: Katie Taylor bears the scars of battle (main) and poses with her mother Bridget at Dublin Airport INPHO
‘I was enjoying myself in the ring and showing a bit of attitude. I felt very comfortable and thought I would egg her on’
IT IS not in Katie Taylor’s nature to partake in the trash-talking that has infiltrated much of modern professional boxing. And when fighters refuse to rise to the bait, as Taylor pointedly did in the build-up to her WBA lightweight title defence, the insults and jibes can feel artificial.
Trash-talk adds little to the sport and only succeeds in sending the sweet science down a road where it will eventually enter the realm of WWE-like soap opera. However, Taylor clearly feels there is nothing wrong with displaying some Ali-esque confidence inside the ring. Nor does her trainer, Ross Enamait.
‘I don’t want her to be dragged into a war, but sometimes it is nice to show some attitude in there because if you are the opponent on the other side of that, it can be quite unnerving,’ Enamait said.
Taylor enjoyed herself to such an extent in Bethnal Green that she had a few words with opponent Jessica McCaskill, especially in the middle rounds. And towards the end of the fight, Taylor beckoned the tough American boxer towards her, something Ali did to his opponents in his pomp.
‘I can’t actually repeat what I was saying to her,’ Taylor smiled. ‘But I was just enjoying myself in there and showing a bit of attitude as well, as Ross says I should. Why not? I felt very comfortable, was just enjoying the occasion. And I just thought I would egg her on.’
McCaskill asked questions of Taylor, pulling her into a scrap and hitting her with an excellent left hook in the sixth round that stunned the champion although the Bray woman insists she wasn’t hurt.
Taylor showcased the full repertoire of her boxing skills, especially in the fourth round and admitted to being nervous beforehand. Not only was she making history by headlining a card on Sky Sports, she was doing it at the historic York Hall where her older brother Peter boxed for Cambridge against Oxford a number of years ago. ‘He won boxer of the night, too,’ she recalled. Having spent most of the year training in Connecticut, Taylor will be glad of a few weeks off over Christmas. The past 13 months have been hectic with eight fights. Promoter Eddie Hearn has already spoken about Taylor not stepping back into the ring until April, when they hope to have a homecoming bout in either the 3 Arena or the RDS. Enamait knows his fighter won’t compete as much in 2018, although he was unconcerned that she returned to the ring just six weeks after claiming the world title.
‘If you look back at fighters in older times, they fought almost every other week. We have become so accustomed to boxers being less active that if someone goes against the grain, it looks unusual.
‘But she probably won’t be able to be as active next year, because she is running out of opponents. And she will be headlining more shows and when a fighter is doing that, they need more time to build the show up and generate publicity to sell tickets.’
Taylor won’t be insulting opponents to create heat for those fights — as Wednesday proved, she doesn’t need to. While she proved to be adept at boxing defensively ‘on the outside’, she still took a few hits. When Taylor fights, you are likely to see her land punches and get hit herself which makes for a thrilling spectacle. Indeed, it’s more genuine that engaging in thrash-talk.
Former rugby international Shane Horgan was a noticeably vocal supporter in the front row in York Hall. But of more significance was the fact that Barney Francis, head of Sky Sports, and Brett Yormark, CEO of the Brooklyn Barclays Center, were also there and reportedly quite taken by the reaction to Taylor and her style of fighting.
A second bout in New York is likely to be on the agenda in 2018 and they will dip into the Boston market at some point. With Mikaela Mayer, who has worked with Billy Walsh as part of the US Olympic team, the latest boxer to call Taylor out, there won’t be any shortage of opponents when she returns Stateside — especially if she holds two belts.
Taylor insisted on Wednesday that there is no limit on her ambition. If she does become unified lightweight champion, she will set new goals.
‘Even when I do that, I still want to achieve more. I just want to keep making history in this sport. When I retire, I know it will be the right time because I have brought women’s boxing to a new level,’ she said.
She will have done so by showing attitude inside the ring, rather than outside of it.