Undisputed lightweight world champion Katie Taylor has given her thoughts on the ‘GWOAT’ – greatest woman of all time – debate after Claressa Shields’ magnificent unification win over Savannah Marshall at the O2 Arena earlier this month.
Taylor was as humble as fans have come to expect whilst speaking about the pound-for-pound best talent on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.
“I definitely don’t laugh when I hear people say Claressa is the GWOAT. I think she and everything she’s achieved in the sport is phenomenal.”
“It’s great to be in the conversation but I don’t get hung up on who’s the pound-for-pound greatest. We’re both doing great things for the sport.”
Both fighters’ accomplishments are undeniable. Shields and Taylor have largely been the faces of a rising movement in boxing to see female fighting get the same respect and viewership as the men’s game. They’ll go down in history for what they’ve achieved not only for themselves, but for young woman who want to enter the sport. For that, as Taylor says, we shouldn’t be hung up on comparing but rather simply appreciating them whilst they’re around.
Taylor fights this weekend at Wembley Arena as she defends her undisputed lightweight crown against unbeaten Argentine Karen Elizabeth Carabajal on DAZN. Fans and media across the boxing world hoped that ‘KT’ would be facing Amanda Serrano next in an immediate rematch after the two threw down a fight of the year contender back in April at Madison Square Garden, New York.
Both sides still want the fight, and after Serrano returned last month with a win, if the Irish icon can come through her mandatory challenger on Saturday then we might just see Taylor vs Serrano II at Croke Park next summer.
Helwani went on to ask Taylor about the possibility of facing Alycia Baumgardner following her recent split decision win over Mikaela Mayer to become the unified super-featherweight world champion.
“Any one of those girls in and around my weight division is a potential opponent. Alycia I think is a fantastic fighter, she was in a very close fight with Mayer which I had a close eye on.”
There’s no doubt that this section of the sport is as stacked as ever with incredible talent and intriguing match ups – and Taylor certainly looks like she’ll welcome all comers towards the end of a historic and game-changing career.