Katie Taylor will get the chance to unify the female lightweight division sooner rather than later.
The 32-year-old IBF and WBA champion will face WBO champion Rose Volante next.
Taylor, comprehensively outpointed Eva Wahlstrom on December 15, exclusively live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN Stateside, in her last outing at Madison Square Garden.
The former Olympic champion, from Bray in County Wicklow, Ireland, recently revealed that she wants fights with the other champions in the division as she looks to solidify her position as the woman to beat in female boxing after BoxRec rated her at number one.
And her promoter Eddie Hearn revealed on Friday that contracts have been signed for her to come up against the Brazilian, before the end of the first quarter of 2019.
Taylor will come up against the 36-year-old on March 16 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of Matchroom Boxing’s big St. Patrick’s weekend card at a venue to be confirmed.
“I’m over the moon to confirm contracts are signed for Katie Taylor to unify against WBO champ Rose Volante on our big Paddy’s Day weekend show in Philly in March,” Hearn wrote on social media when announcing that the deal for the long-awaited clash was done. “Full card announced soon – the road to undisputed is on.”
Volante (14-0, 8 KOs) and her team initially turned down an offer worth almost fifteen times more than her career-highest purse to date.
But the negotiations were rubber-stamped and the fight is now on.
In her last fight, Volante took just three rounds to dispose of Colombian veteran Yolis Marrugo Franco in Praia Grande back in September.
Delfine Persoon, the Belgian WBC champion, and Amanda Serrano, who on January 18 goes for a world title in a seventh weight division, are also high on the wishlist of Taylor (12-0, 5 KOs) and her team after Hearn said recently that he wants the five-time world amateur champion to have three fights this year.
London Olympics silver medallist John Joe Nevin will fight on the card that is set to be topped by Dubliner Jono Carroll’s voluntary challenge of Tevin Farmer for the IBF world title at super-featherweight.
Nevin’s career to date has been blighted by lengthy periods of inactivity and the 30-year-old (11-0, 4 KOs) is hoping this opportunity will be the springboard he needs to get his campaign back on track.
Further details regarding the bill will be revealed in due course.
Article by: Elliot Foster