This is a good time to be Katie Taylor. Within a month she has won the British Boxing Board of Control’s Overseas Boxer of the Year, has a feature length documentary set for release, and on Saturday night the Bray native defends her lightweight world titles in Boston’s famous TD Garden.
Not that she’ll allow all that to distract her. She immediately counters any giddiness with that champion’s focus: "I have to win on Saturday night for things to be going very well."
Taylor (10-0, 5KOs) defends her WBA and IBF Lightweight world belts against the Puerto Rican Cindy Serrano (27-5-3, 10KOs) in the latest venture between her promoter Eddie Hearn and broadcaster DAZN.
England’s Billy Joe Saunders was scheduled to headline the card but his removal due to a doping violation has left more of the spotlight for Taylor to capitalize on.
What’s on the line as much as anything is Katie’s ambition of making a breakthrough to becoming a name that rolls off the tongue for boxing fans Stateside.
I do want to be a global star in this sport and I want to make history in this sport
The 2012 Olympic champion is keen to stress that her focus is fully on a tricky contest with Serrano, but probe a little and she does acknowledge the bigger picture.
"It’s an exciting time for me, for sure. It’s been a great few months for me. I’m loving this journey so far as a professional fighter. It’s definitely been the most exciting part of my career so far and the best is yet to come, which is the best thing about it."
"This deal with DAZN has come at a perfect time for me as well. I do want to be a global star in this sport and I want to make history in this sport. I want to be one of the biggest names, but I have to keep winning – that’s the most important thing. I have to keep performing well, and that’s in my control."
Developing a fan base in America is important if Taylor is to achieve those goals, and in front of a crowd that will be behind the Irish fighters, she has a big opportunity to pick up more passengers on her bandwagon.
After some cynicism and apathy towards Taylor’s previous opponents from sections of the press and the public, former featherweight world champion Serrano presents a much bigger challenge.
"I’ve prepared for my toughest fight to date. She’s very, very experienced, she’s a top seasoned pro, she hasn’t been beaten in six years. She’s coming into this fight to win and to perform and produce an upset. She has nothing to lose and that always makes for a dangerous fighter. But this is what I’m preparing for and these are the kind of fights I relish and I can’t wait for it."
Getting the W on the record is clearly paramount, but the Wicklow woman has shown a willingness to take one punch to land two, and the more thrills she can provide while the lights are on her, the more attention will come her way.
The moment has arrived. Check out the KATIE movie trailer and find your local screening at https://t.co/8LvtvglcPZ - Nationwide Release on Friday, October 26th. pic.twitter.com/ghT9uMW4sw
— Katie Taylor (@KatieTaylor) October 18, 2018
"The most important thing is to win the fight, regardless of whether people think that’s boring or not. I always go into every fight wanting to be exciting and whether I want to make a step up or not, whether I’m boxing in front of 10,000 people or 10 people, I want to produce the best performance I can have, so every time I step into the ring I want to give it my very, very best and this Saturday night is no different."
"There is going to be a lot of Irish people in Boston. I don’t think a Dublin fight is going to happen for a long time so maybe I can start to build a fan base here and this can be like my homecoming fight from now on. I’d love to fight out here more often. I love Boston as a city and I’ve been here a few times now and I absolutely love it."
Promoter Eddie Hearn is of the same mind. Taylor’s marketability to the Irish American audience has been evident this week in the city, and an impressive showing on Saturday night can see her build on that momentum.
"Every fight that she seems to be involved in at the moment she’s incredibly entertaining in. She’s become a real star. This is great for her being in Boston, it’s the first time she’s in a real Irish community and we’ve got a lot of fans coming to watch her specifically."
"There are good challenges - Serrano is one, her sister (Amanda) is another, and then of course there’s the (Cecelia) Brækhus fight that a lot of people have been talking about. That’s really the first ever super fight in women’s boxing."
Taylor’s fight is part of one of the biggest weekends for Irish professional boxing in recent memory. Belfast’s James Tennyson (22-2, 18 KOs) challenges Tevin Farmer (26-4-1, 5 KOs) for his IBF Super-Featherweight world title in the chief support act to the Demetrius Andrade vs Walter Kautondokwa main event.
Elsewhere on the bill former Irish amateur standout Sean McComb (3-0) makes his latest outing as a professional, while the Packie Collins trained Wexford heavyweight Niall Kennedy (11-0-1) aims to take another step up the professional ladder against Brendan Barrett.
Meanwhile over on the west coast Michael Conlan (8-0) continues his ascent against Nicola Cipolletta in Las Vegas, while Jason Quigley defended his NABF middleweight title on Thursday night in California.
