Taylor Headlines Historic Night For Women's Boxing
Undisputed lightweight queen Katie Taylor (16-0 KO 6) will be looking to make a statement this Saturday at Wembley when she defends her belts against mandatory challenger Miriam Gutierrez (13-0 KO 5).
The 32-year-old Taylor was last seen in the ring in August at Matchrooms fight camp finale where she expelled any doubt in her rematch with Delphine Persoon as Taylor defended her titles with a unanimous decision. Taylor will be hoping to put on a dominant performance here with a potential homecoming fight in Ireland looming large when fans return according to Eddie Hearn.
Hearn told Irish media group RTE: "She does aspire to fight in Ireland for sure. It is something that we would love to do and something we should do. We shouldn’t close the door to that.
"I just feel right now there are offers to Katie to box all over the world, but I know at some point in her career that will be very important to her."
There are many hurdles for KT and Matchroom to overcome if a homecoming fight is possible with the memory of the 2016 regency hotel attack still lingering in the mind.
For the Spanish challenger, it’s a magnificent opportunity to come to London and
spring a surprise. She was last seen in the ring winning the interim WBA lightweight title beating Venezuelan challenger Keren Batiz via unanimous decision.
The 37-year-old Gutierrez has never fought outside of her native Spain and it will be new territory for her, but with no fans in the arena she doesn’t face as much pressure and she will have the chance to come and surprise the world without the boisterous Irish fans which could be her best bet.
It’s a historic night for women's boxing as it will be the first triple-header of world title fights. The co-main event sees WBC and IBO super featherweight champion Terri Harper (10-0-1 KO 5) defend her belts against unbeaten challenger Katharina Thanderz (13-0 KO 2).
Harper was also last seen in Matchrooms fight camp in August where she metaphorically brought the house down in a war against Natasha Jonas as the pair fought to a draw. Harper will be wanting to prove a point here, many had Jonas winning the fight and feel Harper was lucky to escape with her belts. A statement win here will once again prove her credentials as champion.
Thanderz, the only woman to beat Rachel Ball who also features on the show, was last seen picking up the interim WBC super featherweight championship in a split decision over Danila Ramos.
The first of the championship action of the night sees the vacant WBA bantamweight title up for grabs as Rachel Ball (6-1 KO 0) faces off against IBF super flyweight champion Jorgelina Guanini (9-1-2 KO 1).
Ball is coming off a career best win as she took at the heavily promoted Shannon Courtenay last August at fight camp flooring the unbeaten Courtenay in the first round en route to a 77-75 verdict from referee Howard Foster. It’s a tough fight and a step up for Ball, the Argentine is coming up in weight but has been at world level before, whether Ball can use her size and her longer preparation time to her advantage remains to be seen.
It’s a big chance for Guanini. She is a late replacement in this one as she steps up on three weeks’ notice, replacing the injured Ebanie Bridges, but should be very motivated to become a two-weight world champion. She has been out the ring for 15 months and will be rusty but her experience at the highest level will be huge.
Away from the title action and we have a fun fight at super middleweight over ten rounds as unbeaten prospect John Docherty (9-0 KO 7) squares off against Bolton’s Jack Cullen (18-2-1 KO 9). Both men were originally slated to face different opponents with Jamie Fox set to face Cullen and Jack Arnfield facing Docherty but after a cut in sparring to Cox and a pull out from Arnfield these two were matched up.
Docherty was last in the ring in August at fight camp against wily journeyman Anthony Fox becoming only the second man to stop Fox with a seventh-round stoppage. Cullen was last seen in the ring also at fight camp in August where he fought to an entertaining draw with Zak Chelli.
Kash Farooq (13-1 KO 6) will finally get the chance to return to the ring after a year out when he faces tough Mexican Angel Aviles (20-5-1 KO 6) in a bantamweight fight. Kash was meant to be back in the ring multiple times over the past couple of months but for one reason or another he hasn’t appeared but Saturday will be the return to the ring for one of the classiest prospects in the bantamweight division. Aviles has only been stopped once in five defeats but hasn’t fought anyone close to Farooq’s level.
And opening the card is a fight at light heavyweight as Liverpool’s Thomas Whittaker Hart (4-0 KO 2) continues his professional venture when he fights Bradford’s Jermaine Springer (7-1 KO 1). Hart was last in the ring a year ago when he stopped Josip Perkovic in the fifth round of a scheduled six. Springer was last in a boxing ring in March where he took the unbeaten record of Casey Connelly on points after six.
Date: November 14th 2020
Time: 19:00
Venue: SSE Arena, Wembley
Where to watch: Sky Sports Arena (All Sky Sports digital platforms) DAZN (USA)