Katie Taylor will make her US debut on Saturday July 29 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, on Sky Sports.
Irish amateur sensation Taylor has impressed since joining the professional ranks in November, winning all five of her fights to date with three inside the distance, and moved into line for a WBA World Lightweight title shot in her last outing in April when the Bray favourite stopped Nina Meinke at Wembley Stadium in London to collect the WBA Inter-Continental strap into the bargain.
Taylor fights over eight rounds on her bow on American soil, and the 31-year-old is excited to be on the bill topped by the Super-Lightweight showdown between four-division World champion Adrien Broner and unbeaten three-division World Champion Mikey Garcia.
“I’m really excited about boxing in the US because I’ve been training in Connecticut for all my fights to date,” said Taylor. “It’s great now to actually have a fight over here and especially on such a big card.
“The Barclays Center is a fantastic arena. I was there to see the DeGale – Jack fight in January, that was a great fight and the Broner – Garcia fight is another terrific matchup so it’s brilliant to get the opportunity to be part of that event.
“It’s great to see two top fighters like Broner and Garcia willing to fight each other. That’s what boxing should be about, the best fighting the best and that’s really something I want to do throughout my career as well.
“The last time I fought in the US was almost 10 years ago when I was invited to take part in a demonstration bout at the Men’s World Championships in Chicago. It was part of the campaign to convince the IOC to include women’s boxing in the Olympics.
“I stopped my opponent inside a round that night but hopefully I’ll get the chance to get a few more rounds under my belt at The Barclays Center and showcase my ability to a new audience. I’m sure that there’s going to be lots of Irish fans in the crowd on July 26 and I can’t wait to hear them cheering me on.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn added: “I’m so pleased to see Katie make her American debut on such an outstanding card. I believe Katie is the most entertaining and dangerous fighter in women’s boxing and has already lit up many venues in her professional journey, most recently Wembley Stadium on the Joshua v Klitschko card in front of 90,000. She is one of the biggest stars in Ireland and we are expecting fantastic support from the Irish community on the east coast for her first US experience.”
