When Katie Taylor was looking to move from amateur to the professional ranks, the Bray native had five world titles, an Olympic gold medal and a whole host of other international victories under her belt.
In the men's game, promoters would have been forming a disorderly queue behind the prize fighter, looking to secure the signature to bring them through the paid ranks and onwards along the rocky road towards world title glory.
Yet Taylor had to make her own approach to the promoter that she felt could help her negotiate the oft-tricky waters of the pro game.
From a young age, Taylor was blazing a trail for female fighters, gradually building the profile that would come to fruition when women’s boxing was eventually accepted into the Olympics; it was apt that she took the gold medal at the inaugural event at the London 2012 Games.
It would be four more years before Katie walked away from the sport that turned her into a worldwide sports star, and a phenomenon back home in Ireland, remarkably reaching the summit, staying there for a decade, but leaving on a low following the disappointment of Rio 2016.
Yet within four months of that Olympic agony, suffering a shock defeat to Mira Potkonen, Katie was walking out on her professional debut at Wembley Arena in London, on a card that featured British prospects like Ohara Davies, Ted Cheeseman and Martin Ward, as well as compatriot JJ McDonagh.
It all came from a phone call and a follow-up chat between Taylor and renowned promoter Eddie Hearn, who admitted that he felt compelled to help the Irish champion on her voyage to become world champion.
And so began the juggernaut journey, as that opening-night facile win over Karina Szmalenberg was soon followed up with a bout on a high-profile Anthony Joshua world title event at the Manchester Arena, where she beat Brazilian Viviane Obenauf.
Fight number three came three months later as Taylor boxed and beat Monica Gentili at London’s O2 Arena, on the undercard of the clash of two former world champions, Tony Bellew and David Haye.
The growing support base, backed up by the strong promotion from Hearn, for the Irish fighter only had to wait three more weeks before Taylor was back in the ring and back on a world title bill at the Manchester Arena; the London 2012 gold medallist already up to eight-round contests.
The knowledgeable boxing crowd were, by this stage, used to seeing a female bout on the card, while also appreciating the quality, technique and entertainment of a Taylor encounter, and in her fifth fight, there was a belt on the line for the first ten-round contest of Katie’s professional career.
It only took seven rounds to land the WBA International Lightweight title as Nina Meinke was stopped at Wembley Stadium on the same night Joshua toppled Wladimir Klitschko.
Two fights later, and only 11 months into her professional career, Taylor got to fight for the WBA world lightweight title at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where Anahi Ester Sanchez was dispatched as Katie was crowned champion of the world.
And there it was; Hearn provided the platform, Katie delivered in style, it would have been easy for both parties to say "job done" and go their separate ways.
But by now, there was an obvious relationship and friendship developing between promoter and fighter, and there was no stopping the Katie crusade as she set off in search of securing the other belts in the lightweight division.
To emphasise what Taylor and Hearn had achieved inside that first year working together, Katie would headline her own show at the iconic York Hall in Bethnal Green in what was her first defence of her title, less than two months after becoming world champion.
With the WBA strap under wraps, Taylor would secure the IBF title the following April, and following three defences, pick up the WBO belt in her 14th pro fight in March 2019, leaving one final piece of the undisputed jigsaw - the WBC crown.
Delfine Persoon was a five-year champion by the time she walked into the ring with Taylor at Madison Square Garden, and some might say that she did enough to retain her crown in a battling and bruising encounter with Taylor, however, it was the Irish fighter's hand that was raised in victory, securing a majority decision.
As Katie was crowned undisputed lightweight champion, her featherweight (one weight class lighter) counterpart, Amanda Serrano had been going about the business of securing belts at different divisions and naturally the two names were being linked.
Taylor and Hearn had completed the lightweight grand slam, and now it was natural to match up some superfights to really raise women’s boxing to another level.
This weekend's bout was first agreed back in 2020, with seven-weight champion Serrano set to move up to lightweight to challenge for Taylor’s titles, but then came Covid.
Serrano’s story contrasted completely when compared to Taylor’s professional progression.
The Puerto Rican-born New Yorker had been scrapping for a living for 11 years at that stage, yet was getting neither the financial rewards nor the recognition for everything she had already achieved in the game.
Serrano had even moved into the MMA (mixed martial arts) circuit to attempt to boost the bank balance, as she believed that the gender pay gap was more favourable, compared to that of professional boxing.
The agreed Taylor fight would have seen Serrano benefit from the promotional support that Hearn had brought to the female game, yet the global pandemic denied her a real shot of global stardom.
A strange twist of fate, however, for Serrano had happened without her really knowing when she fought on a high-profile Hearn card in Miami, which included three world title fights, including Dubliner Luke Keeler’s unsuccessful middleweight challenge against champion Demetrius Andrade.
But the most intriguing, and some would say controversial, fight of the night was the meeting of YouTube rivals Jake Paul and AnEsonGib – an internet grudge match that was won by Logan’s brother but no one could have predicted that the meeting of boxing and social media was about to become a match made in virtual heaven.
"I love this sport," said Jake Paul, following the fight, jeered by a chorus of boos from the boxing fraternity in attendance, yet the internet idol was becoming a major player, making his way in the promotion game, while also taking on and beating professional athletes, Nate Robinson, Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, twice.
Paul has been vocal in recent times, challenging the UFC to pay their fighters a bigger piece of the purse, and he has also become a crusader for the promotion of women’s boxing, signing Serrano to his Most Valuable Promotions company.
"It was a case of the stars aligning," Paul told RTE Sport in a recent interview, when asked about his partnership with Serrano.
It was no surprise to see Hearn embrace the YouTube movement and really push the show business side of boxing, and Jake Paul has followed by example. As a result, the rescheduled Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano fight is now set to be one of the biggest events of the year.
The Covid delay has certainly worked in Serrano’s favour, as she is now guaranteed a $1million payday for Saturday's bout at Madison Square Garden, while the involvement of the YouTube influencer is set to introduce the sport and female boxing in particular to a young, energised and enthusiastic audience.
And so as fight week begins, the hype of the first-ever female boxing headline act at Madison Square Garden continues to ramp up with Hearn now comparing the high-profile bout to the highly anticipated meeting of welterweight superstars Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
"This is going to be an unforgettable night in New York," said Hearn.
"History will be made when Taylor and Serrano step through the ropes and we're on course for a full arena to witness history."
The boxing world never got to see a rematch of that spectacular Mayweather v Pacquiao duel, yet with Taylor and Serrano - and Hearn and Paul - they are already talking about a trilogy.
