Taylor vs Gutierrez: Katie Taylor wary of Miriam Gutierrez’s strength and power at weigh-in
Written by News on 13/11/2020
Katie Taylor admitted she is fully aware of Miriam Gutierrez’s strength and power ahead of their undisputed world lightweight battle at Wembley Arena.
The Irish star defends her WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO belts against Spaniard Gutierrez on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, with WBC super-featherweight champion Terri Harper and Rachel Ball also on the bill at Wembley Arena.
Taylor is a two-weight world champion with a perfect 16-fight professional record, but she acknowledged the threat of a physical encounter with Gutierrez, her WBA mandatory challenger.
“She’s obviously very, very dangerous,” Taylor told Sky Sports.
“No easy fights at this stage. She’s coming into this fight unbeaten as well. Two unbeaten fighters putting everything on the line tomorrow night.
“She is big, she is strong, she has a big punch, anything can happen I guess in professional boxing.
“I’m ready for a tough, 10 round battle. Ready to go into the trenches, if need be.”
A trailblazer for women’s boxing, Taylor is delighted to top a bill which also features the talented duo of Harper and Ball.
“This is absolutely huge for women’s boxing,” said Taylor. “This is a huge opportunity for everyone on the card. We have the chance to display our skills to a new audience.”
Harper retained her WBC belt after a thrilling draw with Natasha Jonas at Fight Camp and revealed how promoter Eddie Hearn had called for a dominant defence against Katharina Thanderz this weekend.
“Eddie pulled me to one side and told me to stamp my authority,” said Harper, who weighed in at 9st 3lbs 5oz, with Thanderz coming in at 9st 3lbs 10oz.
“I need to get back to the old Terri, show them who is the world champion and no-one can take that away from me.
“Every fight is a tough fight, but that is what we train for.”
Ball towered over Jorgelina Guanini ahead of their clash for the WBC interim super-bantamweight belt, with the Midlands boxer vowing to build on her recent win over Shannon Courtenay.
“I’m so confident, I’ve trained so hard for this,” said Ball. “I’m going to walk away with that belt tomorrow night, it’s going to happen.
John Docherty was slightly lighter at 11st 12lbs 9oz than Jack Cullen, who came in at 11st 13lbs 7oz, and the British rivals shared an intense face-off ahead of their super-middleweight clash.
Kash Farooq, the former British bantamweight champion, tipped the scales at 8st 5lbs, while Mexican opponent Angel Aviles was 8st 8lbs.
Watch Katie Taylor, Terri Harper and Rachel Ball this Saturday, from 7pm on Sky Sports, and the show is also streamed for free on YouTube, Facebook and skysports.com.
(c) Sky Sports 2020: Taylor vs Gutierrez: Katie Taylor wary of Miriam Gutierrez’s strength and power at weigh-in
