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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Robert Hynes

Katie Taylor back to familiar London settings as all roads lead to Croke Park in 2023

When the final bell sounded at Madison Square Garden back in April few would have predicted that Katie Taylor's next fight would take place at the Wembley Arena in London.

And nobody could have said it would be against Argentinian Karen Elizabeth Carabajal, but the 32-year-old is deserving of the fight as a mandatory challenger.

Although things were expected to be much different for the undisputed lightweight queen, with Croke Park on the cards before Amanda Serrano opted to go down another path and become the undisputed featherweight champion.

READ MORE: Katie Taylor's net worth and how much money she earns from each fight

However, London has been a happy hunting ground for Taylor over the years, as have the majority of places the 36-year-old has fought in.

But few will have the same emotional attachment for her as the English capital.

It was here where Taylor won her Olympic gold medal in 2012 in front of a packed ExCel Arena, beating Russia's Sofya Ochigava in front of an incredibly noisy crowd in the final.

That bout came after her victory over England's Natasha Jonas, who she would fight professionally in another cracking contest in Manchester years later.

The Jonas fight at the Olympics reached a decibel level of 113.7, the loudest recorded at the 2012 Games.

Katie Taylor beat Natasha Jonas at the 2012 Olympics (PA)

Four years later and following the heartache of Rio, Taylor made her professional debut at the same venue as tonight's fight, defeating Poland's Karina Kopinska via third-round stoppage.

That victory sent Taylor on her way in the professional ranks and just four months later she won her first belt when beating Germany's Nina Meinke across the road at Wembley Stadium on the undercard of Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko to claim the WBA International lightweight belt. Her first world title would follow before the year was out.

Taylor's first defence of that world title also came in London when she defeated Jessica McCaskill in late 2017 at the famous York Hall venue in Bethnal Green. A rematch could be on the cards next year if both Taylor and McCaskill when their respective fights in the next week.

But Taylor's last visit to the city couldn't have been any different to all the ones that came before it as she faced Spaniard Miriam Gutierrez behind closed doors at the Wembley Arena during lockdown in November 2020.

What made the event even more unique and bizarre was that every fighter, their teams and all the media attending the show lived within a Covid-free bubble in a nearby hotel for four nights prior to it.

Katie Taylor in action against Miriam Gutierrez (©INPHO/Matchroom Boxing/Mark Robinson)

Each person was tested on arrival on Tuesday and brought to a room to isolate until the following morning when test results came back. Once negative, you were free to go from your room to one floor of the hotel that had everything from training facilities for the fighters, a media room and somewhere to eat, but you could not leave the hotel until fight night.

Things are thankfully much more normal this time around and the Wembley streets will be buzzing with Irish fans this evening, with ticket sales reported to be "very good" ahead of the event.

Despite the differences in all those previous London events, Taylor has always emerged victorious and she is looking to build on the momentum following that win over Serrano tonight.

She explained: "Every single time I have fought here has been very different. As long as I have a boxing ring in there that’s all that matters. It is all the same really. I am looking forward just to stepping back in there and I'm excited to build on the momentum that we have seen this year."

The build-up to tonight's fight has clearly been much more low-key than it was for the Serrano bout, which included press conferences in London and New York months beforehand, as well a face-off on the top of the Empire State Building during fight week.

But Taylor insists there has been little difference in her preparations for Carabajal and her mind set is the same as always.

She added: "I wouldn’t say there is much difference to be honest. You obviously make a few adjustments in every single training camp. But my mind set is completely the same for all these fights. I am just constantly in the gym working hard. I want to show my best every single time I step into the ring. I work as hard for these challenges as I do for the big fights."

As happy a hunting ground as London has been for Taylor, lets home the next time we see her fight is finally in front of an Irish crowd at a sold-out Croke Park.

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