Katie Taylor says the bill she is headlining on Saturday is the kind of thing she never thought she would see when she was growing up.
Ireland’s undisputed world lightweight champion faces Spaniard Miriam Gutierrez at Wembley’s SSE Arena.
That is among a triple-header of women’s world title bouts on the bill, with WBC super-featherweight champion Terri Harper fighting Katharina Thanderz, and Harper’s fellow Briton Rachel Ball taking on Jorgelina Guanini for the WBA bantamweight belt.
Back in the bubble in London for fightweek and staying sharp for Saturday night! #TaylorGutierrez pic.twitter.com/wJTKiwFFyx
— Katie Taylor (@KatieTaylor) November 9, 2020
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Taylor, the 34-year-old Olympic gold-medallist who is undefeated in 16 fights since turning professional in 2016, said: “I want to inspire the next generation to dream big dreams.
“When I was growing up there wasn’t any (women’s boxing at the) Olympics, there wasn’t female boxers on these professional cards.
“The fact women’s boxing is in the Olympics is absolutely incredible, there’s a female boxing match on every single card right now, which is insane.
“And the fact there’s three world title fights on one bill over the weekend – I never thought I would see that growing up. That in itself is a great legacy.”
It was announced on Tuesday that all three fights will be available to watch for free on streaming platforms.
And Taylor added: “For young kids to have the opportunity to watch this fight for free is absolutely fantastic.
“What a great opportunity it is for myself personally and every other fighter on the card – we can showcase our talents, and it’s an extra platform to inspire young girls.”
When asked for her thoughts on the debate about women’s boxing and equal pay, Taylor said: “I’d love to see the purses rising. I think over the last few years we’ve made great ground on that.
“I’m personally very happy with the purses I’ve received for fights every time, but I wouldn’t say no to a pay rise either.
“I guess it is very low in comparison to what the men are getting, but that’s the way it is. I hope it increases and we are slowly building. It takes time.”
Taylor, who says she hopes to “be involved in huge fights for years to come”, takes on Gutierrez (13-0, 5 KOs) three months on from winning her rematch against Belgium’s Delfine Persoon at Matchroom HQ in Essex via a unanimous points decision.
Taylor feels she produced a “very solid performance” and said: “I couldn’t care less really what the opponents are saying afterwards. It was a very clear victory, and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know anything about boxing really.”
Of Gutierrez, she said: “I think she’s very good. She comes in unbeaten. I know she’s not as well-established as someone like Persoon, but I’m expecting a very tough fight.”
Regarding potential opponents after Saturday’s contest, Taylor mentioned Amanda Serrano, a fight which was scheduled for May but put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, a rematch with Jessica McCaskill, British pair Chantelle Cameron and Natasha Jonas, and MMA fighter Cris Cyborg as possibilities.
Cameron recently told Sky Sports regarding Taylor: “She has massive hand speed but she can’t overpower me or outwork me. She wouldn’t handle that and will crumble”.
Asked about those comments, Taylor said: “I’m not the type of fighter that crumbles. If a fight happens between myself and Chantelle, we’ll see who crumbles.”
