Katie Taylor says she is reaping the benefits of her American training camp and believes she has the stamina to match her undoubted ability.
The 2012 Olympic champion made it three professional wins on the bounce when she stopped Italian Monica Gentili in the fifth-round of her fight on the undercard of David Haye and Tony Bellew at the O2 Arena in London.
In truth, the Bray woman made light work of the 39-year-old Italian, with Taylor landing shots at will off the back foot in the early rounds before settling into a comfortable rhythm and working the body before the fight came to an end in the fifth round.
Taylor spends much of her time Stateside with trainer Ross Enamait and immediately returned to America after the fight to continue her training schedule.
She feels she is reaping the benefits of the programme as she seeks a world title shot in 2017.
"I could have gone 10 rounds with her…I felt great in there"
“This was the first time I had a proper training camp under my belt. It definitely felt like that in the ring. I felt a lot stronger and sharper,” she said.
“I could have gone 10 rounds with her…I felt great in there.”
While Taylor reflected on “really good performance”, promoter Eddie Hearn is busily plotting out what could be a huge year for the 30-year-old.
An undercard slot on Anthony Crolla’s world lightweight title challenge in Manchester on 25 March is likely to be the Bray woman’s next ring outing before she features at a sold-out Wembley Stadium on 29 April in support of the world heavyweight title clash between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.
While a mooted St Patrick’s Weekend date in New York did not materialise, Taylor does look likely to make her American debut May or June.
"We’re looking at the Crolla card and then also at Wembley, so the plan is to have those two fights and then to move on to a fight in America after that and then I think we’re ready [for a title shot]," Hearn said post-fight.
