SANCHEZ PROMISES ‘DARKNESS’ WHILE TAYLOR EYES GLORY
year as a professional and if she wins (she is overwhelming favourite to do so) there’s a possibility of a title defence in the United States before Christmas. Even if everything has moved at what seems like break-neck speed, there are still some parts of being a professional that Taylor could do without. Like all the pre-fight publicity, the hundreds of eyes staring at her in Cardiff’s National Museum and her ebullient promoter Eddie Hearn insisting she is a superstar that will transcend the sport. In an ideal world, Taylor would simply climb into the ring and let the blinding speed of her fists and feet talk on her way to her first pro world title. ‘It’s just part and parcel of it,’ she explained. ‘I just have to try and go with the flow and not get too stressed out about it. I am getting more used to it now.’ The Bray native has just spent 11 weeks in a training camp in Connecticut, her longest camp yet as a professional, and her reasoning was simple. ‘It is a big step-up but I am prepared for a tough, 10-round battle. I’m prepared for whatever comes my way. This will definitely be my toughest fight yet, but I am ready for a tough challenge. This is the sort of challenge I absolutely relish and I can’t wait for it.’ Sanchez, a rugged and durable fighter, may pose Taylor’s toughest challenge yet but her two defeats in a 17-2 record have come on the two previous occasions that she fought outside of her native Argentina. ‘She is very experienced. She likes to get in close so I will be expecting all of that,’ Taylor explained. ‘I am prepared for any kind of battle.’ Taylor will fight quite high on the undercard of Joshua’s world heavyweight title defence against Takem, a sign not only of what Hearn has invested in the Irish fighter but also the interest from American broadcasters, Showtime, who have
screened Taylor’s two previous bouts on Joshua’s bills. Sanchez, speaking through her colourful Uruguayan manager Sampson Lewkowicz, promised only darkness and rain for Taylor on her biggest night yet. ‘Everybody is thinking that Katie is just going to come and lift this belt off me,’ Sanchez said. ‘They are wrong. It won’t be a walk in the park. It is going to be a dark and rainy night for Katie.’ Lewkowicz reckons that Sanchez can prey on Taylor’s relative inexperience as a professional, although the reigning champion has never fought in front of 90,000 at Wembley Stadium as Taylor did on the Joshua-Klitschko card in April. ‘When I go into the ring, it will not matter,’ Sanchez said. ‘I will not be intimidated. I will only be close up with my opponent. I am not worried about the crowd, the stage, the people or the publicity. I am coming here with the belt and I am going to keep it.’