Eddie Hearn has seen a lot of fighters come and go during his time in boxing promotion.
But for the Matchroom boss, one fighter stands alone as his favourite and coming from a man who speaks with the likes of Anthony Joshua on a weekly basis, Hearn’s opinion of Taylor must hold plenty of weight.
Hearn proudly watched on as the Bray boxer coasted through the next step on her unification journey when she stopped Rose Volante on Friday night, adding the WBO lightweight title to her collection in the process.
“She will always be my favourite,” Hearn said of Taylor.
“We’ve got some amazing fighters on both sides of the pond but you can’t help but admire someone with that much dedication and passion for what they do. It’s absolutely everything to her. Everything!
“She’s a remarkable individual. When you go into her dressing room before a fight, you can hear a pin drop and you almost don’t want to go in there. She’s just so driven.
“Everybody leaves here tonight talking about Katie Taylor and that’s every time she fights.
“And by the way, Volante was tough. In the early rounds, I didn’t like Katie trading with her because I didn’t think she had to but that’s what she does. She sat on Volante’s chest and started to work the body and Volante couldn’t deal with her inside.
“Her inside fighting is actually my favourite, that’s what I love watching. She shouldn’t do it that much because she can box on the outside and beat everybody but she loves to stand in the pocket and trade. And when she does, it’s like watching a seasoned Mexican male veteran.”
With just WBC champ Delfine Persoon standing in Taylor’s way of becoming undisputed queen of the division, Hearn hopes to add that unification clash to the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s upcoming US debut against Jarrell Miller on June 1.
“We’re pretty close,” Hearn said of a proper offer to get the fight over the line.”Persoon won last weekend with quite an impressive stoppage victory.
“June 1, Madison Square Garden, on the Joshua card. What better setting for the undisputed lightweight title?”
