November return
Katie to face Gutierrez in title defence
WORLD champion Katie Taylor will be back in the ring in November according to her promoter Eddie Hearn.
The Bray fighter, currently on a break in her native county after her rematch victory over Delfine Persoon, will defend her World lightweight belts against Spain’s Miriam Gutierrez on November 14.
A venue for the fight has yet to be announced – but it will almost certainly be in the UK and there will be two other world title fights on the card.
Speaking to the Boxing Social website Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn said: “Katie Taylor has to fight her WBA mandatory next, which is (Miriam) Gutierrez, that will be on a stand-alone card in November that will be announced shortly.”
This fight has been mandatory for Taylor’s since November of last year when Gutierrez defeated Venezuelan Keren Batiz to win the interim WBA belt.
After Amanda Serrano pulled out of her scheduled clash against Taylor last month, Gutierrez was touted as a replacement until Delfine Persoon indicated she was willing to travel to Essex for a rematch.
The 37-year old only turned professional three years ago but has since chalked up 13 wins on the spin including five knockouts. ‘I would like to fight against the greatest, which is Katie Taylor. I would like that very much because she is world class,’ said Gutierrez who said that the undefeated Taylor was her favourite fighter.
‘She has been in London, Brazil and at the Olympics and now she’s become a pro. She has a lot of titles and she is a world champion.’
Outside the ring the mother of two is a vocal campaigner on the issue of domestic abuse.
When she was 21 and eight months pregnant, she was a victim herself suffering a serious facial injury.
In May 2019, when she was appointed as councillor for women in the district she lives in outside Madrid.
Hopes of Taylor being involved in another mega fight before Christmas faded after former welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus exercised for right for a rematch against Jessica McCaskill.
The latter fashioned a shock win over the long-time undefeated champion last month.
The Taylor- Gutierrez fight will almost certainly take place behind closed doors in the wake of the British government’s decision to halt plans to allow fans back to see live sports events following a spike in Covid-19 cases.
The fight will be shown live on Sky Sports and streamed on the DAZN network in the United States.