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Big Apple dream turns rotten for Katie Taylor

It almost seemed like it was too good to be true – and, sadly, it turns out that it was.

Katie Taylor [2(1)-0] will not fight on the Gennady Golovkin v Daniel Jacobs undercard in New York at the Madison Square Garden Arena on March 18th.

The Bray super featherweight’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed the bad news and placed the blame firmly at the feet of Top Rank President Todd duBoef.

Hearn claims that duBoef was vehemently against another major Irish fighter featuring in New York so close in proximity to the debut of Mick Conlan – which takes place the night before the Golovkin-Jacobs bill at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Conlan tops the bill in New York on March 17th, St Patrick’s Day, and it seems misguided to have taken issue with a proposed Taylor fight the following night – a bout that many Irish fans already making the trip over had planned to take in, and one which seemed to add to the enormity of Conlan’s debut rather than dilute it.

Admittedly a Taylor undercard fight on the Golovkin-Jacobs bill was not the main selling point for most – and Irish fans will be more than happy with the top quality show for March 18th that also features Roman Gonzalez, Oleksandr Usyk, and Carlos Cuadras – however a chance to see Taylor on the big stage would have been greatly enjoyed.

In an interview with IFL TV, the Matchroom boss outlined how “what happened was, we were talking to Golovkin about Katie Taylor going on the card – which everyone wanted to do, obviously. And then Top Rank, Todd duBoef mainly, threw his absolute toys out of the pram because they’ve got the Conlan show the night before.”

“Golovkin went on March 18th, which they weren’t very happy about but they let it go. Then they heard Katie Taylor was on and they threw their toys out and went ‘we’ve got an Irish show, Katie Taylor’s obviously massive and she’s going on the night before [sic]?'”

“It was a big, well I wont say argument, but it was drama.”

It’s not all bad news for the Wicklow woman, who already has a confirmed place on the Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko undercard at Wembley Stadium on April 29th, with Hearn revealing that he is in talks for another Stateside scrap.

The English promoter noted how “Katie Taylor, she may fight the week before in Washington on the [Jermell] Charlo card.”

Watch Eddie Hearn’s interview with IFL TV in full below:

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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