Headline News

Opponent confirmed for Katie Taylor fight on Haye-Bellew undercard

Katie Taylor [2(1)-0] will kick off her 2017 this weekend against Italian opposition.

The Bray lightweight will feature on the Sky pay-per-view undercard of the heavyweight grudge match between David Haye and Tony Bellew.

Taylor’s opponent here will be Monica Gentili [6(1)-6(1)]. The Lazio 39 year old comes gentiliinto the bout off the back of a two fight winning streak and is a former two-time Italian title challenger and has also lost to current European champion Ewa Brodnicka.

The challenge posed by Gentili should be rather gentle, however the Italian is a late replacement. It had been Taylor’s team’s intention to pit her against Bulgarian Milena Kovleva [9(3)-7(1)-1]. The Eastern European last month challenged for the IBF world title, being stopped in the ninth round by reigning champ Maiva Hamadouche. However, a chest infection saw Kovleva withdraw last week.

Taylor’s fight this Saturday, which is scheduled to take place at around 8:30pm, features on an undercard that also includes big match ups between Paulie Malignaggi and Sam Eggington, and Derry Matthews and Ohara Davies.

Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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