All the focus will be on the WBA world title belt that suddenly has no owner. After that, there will be time to consider all the other fight offers.
Katie Taylor has spoken about taking on a Mixed Martial Arts fight in the past. She has entertained the idea while saying her current focus is on boxing.
There may have been a temptation to stay on in the amateur game, following Taylor’s Rio 2016 disappointment, but she made the smart move and turned professional. She set her sights on a world title and, knowing Taylor, she won’t stop at the WBA strap. She will be keen on unifying the belts while creating a legacy in the pro game.
The 31-year-old will take a massive step towards that if she defeats Anahi Sanchez in Cardiff tonight and claims the title the Argentine was forced to vacate on Friday after twice missing weight.
Sanchez looked fit to explode on Friday as, glowering, she stepped down from the scales and tried to take in the shock of losing her belt without a punch being thrown. She is no mug and will provide Taylor with a stern test but one wonders what her weight-cutting travails will do to her physical and mental conditioning.
The next fight is always the most important fight so Taylor will be primed for this contest at the Principality Stadium.
As for her promoters, they can start talking her up, plotting fights and speculating about the future all they like.
Back in August, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom was asked – amid the Mayweather vs. McGregor hype cloud – if Taylor would ever be up for a crossover bout with UFC star Holly Hom.
Hom, ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’, is a former boxing world champion and she rose to MMA prominence by brutally knocking out the former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in Sydney, Australia. Holm has since lost that title, to Miesha Tate, and two more bouts before starching Bethe Correia in Singapore, back in June.
Hearn left the door open by saying, “If the money’s there, you can’t turn down things like that.” He added:
“Holly Holm is a good boxer and she’s a lot better than many of the [current] female pro boxers out there and I think that’s a big fight.”
Hearn was questioned about Taylor vs. Holm again, at Thursday’s press conference and did not expand much further on his comments from August. He merely raised an eyebrow, unclasped his hands and said it was a possibility.
Any fight against Taylor, were it to happen in 2018, would be in the boxing ring. Holm has the extensive boxing background and pedigree and that fight would be more marketable.
Taylor is expected to earn between €40,000-€60,000 on the undercard bout. Her clash with Sanchez is the third of the appetisers before heavyweight world champion feasts on late call-up Carlos Makam in the main event.
The last time Taylor was on a Joshua undecard, she fought around 7pm and with less than 1,000 of the Wembley Stadium seats occupied.
Even if Taylor were to become world champion, she would be doing extremely well to make €100,000 in her first title defence and would, most likely, have to go on the undercard again.
However, fight Holm and that could very well be a main event. Do it in Ireland and all of her hard work may have a massive personal and financial reward.
She could even get Conor McGregor on her undercard…
