Katie Taylor steps into the ring on Saturday night to defend her IBF World Championship belt against US boxer Jennifer Han.
Han is particularly interesting in that she only came back to the gym in May after giving birth to her second child in February. Making the weight for Saturday has required her to lose an incredible 34 kilos in weight in only three months.
She is an outsider to inflict Taylor’s first professional defeat but that kind of dedication to get a job done is a rare strength in itself and her record of 18 wins and only three defeats is not half bad.
Those who watched Taylor’s recent bouts on Sky Sports will not have to pay a premium this time around but they will need to add to their sporting subscriptions with the fight having switched to DAZN. You may have seen their Game Changer ads around Dublin in recent weeks.
An introductory subscription of only €1.99 a month was available until earlier this week but that has now risen to €7.99 ahead of Saturday night.
The streaming platform has secured all the Matchroom boxing fights, with the exception of those involving Anthony Joshua for the next five years. Nigel Benn’s son Conor will fight in Leeds on Saturday night as well. As will Josh Warrington who heads the card
It has also signed a deal with the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the next three seasons so its content will be substantially up on what was previously available.
Katie Taylor is a big enough star to draw a strong audience here. The long term investment in her that Eddie Hearn and Matchroom have made will now start to pay ever bigger dividends with the new deal.
It does though also indicate that the chances of seeing her box again on a free to air service like RTÉ produced for Kellie Harrington in Tokyo last month are but a fading dream.
Taylor and Han are expected to enter the ring between 9-30 and 10 pm on Saturday night.
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