Eddie Hearn insists a world-title shot remains the priority for Katie Taylor as her next bout will take place over two-minute rounds despite recent calls for parity between men’s and women’s pro boxing.
Former Olympic champion Taylor returns to the ring on Saturday week with undefeated German Nina Meinke confirmed as the Irishwoman’s opponent for a Wembley Stadium fight date on the undercard of the 29 April world heavyweight title clash between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.
The female support bout is an eliminator for the WBA women’s world lightweight title, with the stepping-stone WBA inter-continental belt also set to be on the line for Taylor and Meinke over 10 two-minute rounds.
That fight distance has been set despite Taylor’s recent calls for women’s pro boxing bouts to be boosted to three-minute rounds in keeping with men’s paid fights following her win over Bulgarian Milena Koleva in Manchester last month.
However, Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn claims that Team Taylor are prioritising the 30-year-old’s world-title plans as they look to tee up a homecoming title challenge in Dublin later this year.
"We want to win titles," explained Hearn. "Katie would love to fight three-minute rounds, but if that’s not the circumstances ordered by governing body for the belts we’re going to be fighting for then I don’t understand the relevance of fighting three-minute rounds," he added.
Should the Irishwoman emerge victorious from the stepping-stone title fight – held over the same 10-round distance as female world-title bouts – Taylor will boost her world ranking ahead of an anticipated US fight date in the summer and a possible homecoming title shot later this year.
"We’re not here for any publicity stunts, we’re here to win belts and titles"
"That’s the rules of the [WBA] governing body… we’ll act under the guidance and the regulations of the governing bodies for the belts that we fight for," said Hearn, who appeared to have a veiled dig at rival promoter Frank Warren after the latter recently announced that British Olympic flyweight champion Nicola Adams’ next bout is likely to be staged over three-minute rounds.
"We’re not here for any publicity stunts, we’re here to win belts and titles," said the Matchroom Boxing chief.
"We’ll do whatever we have to do to win the belts," added the promoter, who had previously suggested that Taylor was likely to revert back to a six-round bout for her Wembley date after defeating Koleva over eight rounds last month.
Hearn claimed that the Bray native’s eagerness to move into title contention prompted the step up to 10 rounds on what he insisted will be a massive occasion for women’s boxing with a crowd of 90,000 set to be in attendance at Wembley.
"To do this at Wembley, not just for Katie but for women’s boxing, to have a title fight on this card is massive," said Hearn. "She’s ready for it… I think this fight will probably go the distance and if it does then we’ll be looking to go [fight] once more in the summer in the States and then we’re ready to pull the trigger for the world title in Ireland.
"Once she has 10 rounds under her belt she’ll have the confidence to challenge for the world title," added Hearn, who claimed that the undefeated Meinke represents Taylor’s toughest test as a professional to date.
The 23-year-old German, who boxed in the UK for a period as an amateur, has won all five of her paid fights since turning pro in May last year, claiming early stoppages in her two most recent outings.
"I can’t believe how hard it is to find opponents now," said Hearn on his search for potential foes for Ireland’s five-time amateur world champion.
"Outside of the [pro] world champions, we went through everybody. It was by luck that we found this girl [Meinke] and I’m so glad we did because this is a really tough fight.
"We looked at other girls who have fallen short at world level and they don’t always look that impressive technically, but this girl [Meinke] is very good," added Hearn.
Meinke’s record also includes a four-round points victory over Karina Kopinska, the Polish journeywoman who was stopped by Taylor on the Bray woman’s pro debut last November.
