Katie Taylor defeats Karen Elizabeth Carabajal in…

Katie Taylor defeats Karen Elizabeth Carabajal in London

Katie Taylor successfully defended her world lightweight titles for a seventh time on Saturday night by beating Karen Elizabeth Carabajal.

The undisputed and undefeated champion won via unanimous decision after dominating the bout over ten rounds after which the challenger was left with blood gushing down the right side of her face due to a cut near her eye.

In the same venue where her professional debut came against Poland's Karina Kopinska in 2016 and where she defeated Spaniard Miriam Gutierrez just under two years ago, Taylor never looked in trouble throughout with the three judges scoring the bout 100-91, 99-91, 98-92 in her favour.

Fighting outside her native Argentina for the first time, Carabajal was made to look an inferior boxer from the off as Taylor landed the cleaner shots and avoided much of what was thrown back at her.

The Bray Bomber began to connect with big shots in the second round and the challenger could do little in response.

Chants of Ole, Ole, Ole rang out around the arena as Taylor landed more powerful rights in the third.

As she often does, Taylor let her hands go in the fourth opening up for the Argentinian to land some shots of her own before the champion connected with a few more nice right hands.

Katie Taylor v Karen Elizabeth Carabajal (Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)

Damage began to show under Carabajal's right eye as Taylor mixed up punches to the 32-year-old's face with body shots.

The seventh saw the champion throw very little, but Carabajal couldn't land much either.

A nice left hand towards the end of the eighth stunned Carabajal and Taylor comfortably saw the fight out from there to take her professional record to 22-0.

It was a good night all around for the Taylor family as the undisputed champion's father Pete watched his fighter Gary Cully land a stunning knockout inside 35 seconds against the previously undefeated Jaouad Belmehdi.

The Kildare native dropped his French opponent with a thunderous left that sent Belmehdi tumbling to the floor and it was clear instantly that he would not be able to continue.

Gary Cully wins (Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)

Elsewhere on the card, veteran Spaniard Kiko Martinez stopped Jordan Gill in the fourth round to become the European featherweight belt for a third time 15 years after beating Bernard Dunne at The Point.

Meanwhile, Taylor and her team's focus will now switch to securing a mega-fight at Croke Park next year, with Amanda Serrano the preferred option.

But the winner of next week's undisputed super lightweight bout between American Jessica McCaskill and Englands' Chantelle Cameron could also be an option, while Taylor will also be linked with a crossover fight against MMA stars Cris Cyborg or Holly Holm.

Eddie Hearn has also mentioned WBC, IBF and WBO super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner as a potential opponent for the lightweight queen.

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