Katie Taylor takes on Valerian Spicer tomorrow but who is the Dominican boxer?

Katie Taylor fans will have high hopes for the world number one as she prepares for the defence of her world title in South Korea.

Taylor received a first-round bye but takes to the ring tomorrow against Dominican Valerian Spicer looking to begin the run to win a record-equalling fifth consecutive world title. But the Olympic champion must first meet Valerian Spicer who is not the most familiar name for the majority of fight fans. The 34-year-old was born in England to a Dominican mother and British father and has enjoyed credible success on the European circuit, putting on impressive shows at the National ABA, the Haringey Box Cup Championship and Sweden's Golden Girls Box Cup, to name but a few. Spicer is set to represent Dominica at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro but, failing to earn a medal at the Commonwealth Games has made that task more difficult. She said: “That’s why I’m still in it. All the tournaments I’ll be doing over the next year and a half will be geared up to Rio.” And according to the Islington-based Spicer, a bout with Taylor was not too far away from happening recently. In an interview with BoxingNewsOnline.net, she said: "She asked for a bout a month ago so I was actually going to box her then. It fell through for some reason. She’s brilliant, when I first started boxing I looked up to her and now I feel like I can compete with her.” Spicer will get a chance to trade punches with Taylor tomorrow and her admiration for the 28-year-old Bray boxer will be put on hold for about 10 minutes as they go head-to-head at 10a.m. Irish time tomorrow.

Let's get ready to rumble. Boxing Katie Taylor on Tuesday.. #worldchampionships — Valerian Spicer (@ValerianSpicer) November 16, 2014