Two possibilities for Katie Taylor’s American debut this Summer

Katie Taylor [5(3)-0] continued to close in on a world title at the weekend, winning a WBA eliminator in destructive fashion, but there is a final pit-stop on the horizon before a Dublin homecoming.

The Bray lightweight defeated Nina Meinke via seventh round stoppage on Saturday to claim the WBA Inter-Continental belt at Wembley Stadium on the Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko undercard.

The win will push her into the organisation’s rankings, setting up a potential fight for the title at the 3Arena in late October or early November as has been the plan all along.

The current WBA champion is Uruguayan Cecilia Communales, however the South American’s promoter Sampson Lieczweitz has previously stated that she is to move up in weight.

However, before any world titles, the Wicklow woman is going to be brought Stateside for a big fight in America, following in line with an initial plan set out by promoter Eddie Hearn earlier this year.

There is no definitive date for this fight, with two options in the running.

One is an appearance on the undercard to the massive Andre Ward v Sergey Kovalev IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight title rematch in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on Saturday June 17th. This is dependent, according to Irish boxing writer Ciarán Gallagher, on Sky Sports securing the UK broadcasting rights for this card, as they did for the initial fight in December.

The other option is for Taylor to headline a card in her own right, most likely in July, on the U.S. East Coast where millions claim Irish heritage. This option is assumedly a much larger undertaking and risk for Matchroom and seems the less likelier of the two options.

Hearn said following the fight on Saturday that “I have the American TV executives telling me that they want Katie Taylor.”

“She is the most exciting name in women’s boxing at the moment and we will look to get her on the undercard of a big fight on the West Coast or maybe headlining a show on the East Coast.”

Back in March, Matchroom founder Barry Hearn commented on how he saw Taylor’s long term future in America, and it looks as though the waters will be tested soon.

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

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