Eddie Hearn wants to lead “national icon” Katie Taylor to a world title bout in Dublin after confirmation that she has joined the professional circuit with promoters Matchroom Boxing today.
Taylor will make her pro debut at Wembley Arena on 26 November, with Hearn, head of Matchroom, admitting he was taken aback by his first dealings with the 2012 Olympic gold medallist that led to her agreeing a contract.
He told RTÉ Sport: “When I met Katie last week I came away, and I’ve got two daughters at four and seven, and I just thought to myself ‘I’d love them to spend some time with Katie Taylor. What a remarkable young lady’.
“And I believe everyone will feel the same way as me. So we have to let people find out about Katie Taylor. We have to let the public get to know Katie Taylor, they have done it in Ireland and you can see the response.
“She is a national icon in Ireland and a wonderful role model for boxing. Forget women’s boxing, forget men’s boxing, she is a wonderful role model for boxing and for sport and i think we have a wonderful chance with her.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see on 26 November in Wembley Arena, and we hope there will be as many travelling fans as possible and fans in London as well coming to watch her box.
“And then a couple of weeks after, on the Anthony Joshua card at the Manchester Arena, in front of 21,000, it’s a great start for her, a great platform and then we build and we build and we build to a situation where she can travel for a world title and we’d really like to do that in Dublin.”
Hearn highlighted the rapid rise of Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm in mixed martial arts as examples of how female athletes can capture the world’s attention and believes Taylor has all the ingredients to take a similar course.
“I had meetings with Sky Sports, I told them about the contact I had with Katie Taylor,” he stated.
“Obviously she is an ambassador for them as well. There seems to be a real appetite and demand at the moment for women’s sport on the channel.
“Although I call it women’s boxing, I really put it down as boxing. I put it down as a product. It’s a TV sport that we are selling in arenas and to the viewers at home. Katie Taylor can really fight. Forget the fact that she is a woman, she can really fight. She is really entertaining to watch.
“And when I met her last week for the first time, I felt invigorated. I left the meeting feel energised, excited, at her journey and what I believe she could do for women’s sport or just for boxing. I’m very excited.
“I was quite honest with her in our meeting that I don’t really know a great deal about women’s boxing. [I told her] ‘I know you can really fight, I know how to sell and we have got a great platform that I feel like we can showcase your talents’.
“There are different markets geographically that are really excelling in terms of women’s boxing. Of course there is Scandinavia, it’s on the rise in America, in Asia, Mexico and territories like this. It will be our plan to take her to those markets as well.
“But the plan for us really is to showcase Katie Taylor as often as possible and to make sure people get to find out how exciting she is, find out more about her story and let the fans engage with her.
“We’ve seen it with UFC. The likes of Ronda Rousey and Holly Holmes – it doesn’t really matter if you’re male or female. If you click with the public, if you’re exciting to watch, then you’re going to become a star. She is already a star.”
Hearn has yet to confirm an opponent for Taylor as he makes a busy start under his promotion – but he sees the opening two bouts as crucial in his vision to turn her into a big draw in pro boxing.
“We’re working on [opponents] now. It’s new ground for us. I have never matched a women’s fight before. Since my meeting with Katie last week, I have been speaking to a lot of people in the game who have worked in women’s boxing for a number of years. Katie is already at the stage where she is a quality fighter.
“She needs a good, strong opponent and a good strong test and that’s what she wants. Ultimately her first or second fight, that is the platform or opportunity for us to showcase the product.
“It has to be a good fight, the styles have to blend. I believe they will because every time I watch Katie Taylor fight, I enjoy it and it’s exciting. I think the whole of the public watching will feel the exact same way.”
