“It hasn’t even started” promises Brian Peters

The journey has just begun according to Brian Peters.

Katie Taylor cemented her status as female boxing’s biggest star with a brilliant defence of her IBF and WBA lightweight titles live on DAZN on Saturday night.

The Bray fighter produced another sensational display shutting out game WBC super featherweight world champion Eva Wahlstrom at Madison Square Garden to bring to an end another brilliant year where she notched four wins from four title fights.

However, her manager Peters believes 2019 will be even bigger and goes as far as to suggest there is lots more to come from the stand-out talent.

“When you’re dealing with an athlete of such talent, such dedication, such conviction, fortitude, the consistency to keep doing it, we know that anything is possible,” he said, speaking on RTÉ 2FM’s Game On.

“It hasn’t even started,” he added before mapping out the ideal 2019 for the Matchroom fighter.

“In March we’re hoping for Rose Volante, she’s the WBO champ, 14-0 undefeated, we still have Delfine Persoon, the WBC champ and she’s champ since 2012, she’s 41-1.

“Even after the weekend she [Persoon] is still considered the number one in the division so we need to get that undisputed title, we need all the belts.”

“We have Amanda Serrano, she’s a six division champion, 35-1, 26 KOs, so those are the three on our radar next year and to become the undisputed world champion is what Katie has always stated.”

These three have all been mentioned before – as part of a four.

Volante, Persoon, Serrano, followed by four-belt welterweight queen Cecilia Braekhus was the road-map outlined previously but the Norwegian’s name had seemed to slip off in recent interviews from promoter Eddie Hearn.

Peters, though, is keen for this fight, and outlined how “The First Lady of Boxing, as they call her, Cecilia Braekhus is undisputed welterweight champion, she’s 35-0 and is 147lbs, Katie is 135lbs so hopefully we can have an undisputed lightweight champion against an undisputed welterweight champion and have that in the middle, 140lbs.”

Taylor became the first Irish boxer to defend a world title at MSG, the legendary home of boxing in the Big Apple and the occasion wasn’t lost on both manager and fighter.

Peters, extremely proud of his charge, noted how “you walk into The Mecca, this is the arena that Muhammad Ali made famous fighting Joe Frazier. You have Marco Antonio Barrera, Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, Anthony Joshua ringside, and to put on a show and display like that was quite phenomenal.

“Eva was a proud champion and a lot of the fighters we have fought mightn’t have come to win, but Eva came to win and believing she could win. When you get in there and you feel the power and the speed, the game plan goes out the window.”

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)