All roads lead to Manchester on Saturday night as Ireland’s most decorated sports star Katie Taylor defends her undisputed lightweight belts against British boxer Natasha Jonas.
The Bray boxer comes into the bout off the back of a convincing victory over Miriam Guiterrez at London's SSE Arena last November, but Saturday’s opponent Natasha Jonas is expected to give Taylor one of her biggest challenges to date. Katie Taylor boasts an impressive professional record of 17 wins in 17 fights, 11 of which via knockout. Her Liverpool opponent meanwhile has a record of 9-1-1 from 11 professional bouts, with the drawn encounter coming against Terri Harper.
There is an added excitement to Saturday night’s showdown, given the pair will be more than familiar with going toe to toe with one another in the ring. Almost a decade ago, Katie Taylor defeated Jones on her way to claiming a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, when the Irish star overcame Jonas at the quarter final stage of the competition in comfortable fashion with a 26-15 victory on the night.
In Natasha Jonas, Taylor faces a boxer who pundits like Carl Froch, believe will push the RTE Sportsperson of the Year to her limits and potentially cause an upset if luck is on her side. Jonas turned professional in 2017 after an amateur career which saw her win a bronze medal in the light welterweight division at the 2011 European Championships, bronze in the lightweight division at the 2012 AIBA World Championships and silver in the light welterweight division at the 2014 European Championships. Trained by Joe Gallagher, Jonas will enter the fray with an added confidence following her most recent bout with Terri Harper, which many felt she was unlucky not to win.
For Taylor, the 34 year old icon remains the person to beat in women’s boxing and her decorated professional legacy remains untouched. She enters the fight in a rich run of form having defeated Christina Linardatou, Delfine Persoon and most recently Miriam Gutierrez in November 2020– the latter of which being a comfortable victory for the far superior Irish boxer. Given Taylor’s fitness, precision and toughness amongst her many other attributes that have seen her pave her way to being the face of women’s boxing worldwide– the Bray woman is expected to carry that same attitude into Saturday’s bout and prove to the world once again why she is the greatest female boxer the sport has ever had with another victory.
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@TashaJonas #TaylorJonas pic.twitter.com/BWcrgaZdQa
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) April 24, 2021
Taylor herself has labeled the bout “the fight that people have been asking for” and there’s no doubt the fighter enters Saturday night with the nation behind her as always.
The fight can be watched live on Sky Sports Box Office with Taylor and Jonas expected to enter the ring at 9pm.
