AN Olympic gold medallist, five-time amateur World champion, undisputed professional lightweight world champion, revenge win over rival Delfine Persoon, Irish legend Katie Taylor is running out of milestone accomplishments to achieve.
But the star from Bray is not thinking about how to end her career. She has a defence tonight (Saturday November 14) behind closed doors at Wembley Arena against Miriam Gutierrez and if victorious, as expected, she will look forward to bigger name opposition.
“I don’t like putting any limits on myself. I just take each fight as it comes I suppose but I definitely have no plans to retire any time soon, that’s for sure. I hope I’m involved in huge fights for years to come,” Taylor said. “I just want to leave a fantastic legacy behind me.”
The appealing fights, she explains, could be Amanda Serrano or a rematch with Jessica McCaskill. “Obviously [WBC super-light champion] Chantelle Cameron has been mentioned as well. I’m willing to go up through the weights as well,” Taylor said. “There’s definitely no shortage of big fights out there.
“[Natasha Jonas] I think that would be a fantastic fight actually. I think Tasha showed in her last fight she’s still capable of producing great performances. She is at that level. It’s a fight that people will be very interested in. If it’s a fight that people want to see, I’m very, very happy to take that fight. I’m sure so is she as well. It’s a huge fight, especially over here in the UK.
“I’m not sure what’s next but right now just focus on Saturday night.”
Taylor does insist she is taking the threat of Gutierrez seriously. “She’s coming into this fight unbeaten as well. I know she’s not as well established as Persoon or some of the other girls I’ve fought. I think she’s actually a lot better than what people think. I’m expecting a very, very tough fight. She can be very tricky at times and very awkward as well. These are fighters that are very hard to look good against. But I’m coming to this fight just like usual,” she said. “I’m prepared to go into the trenches if need be.
“As an amateur I went into fights complacent before, that’s when you actually lose fights. So I can’t afford at any stage to be complacent or think this is going to be an easy fight. This is professional boxing and anything can happen.”
