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Katie Taylor Dominates Carabajal: Result, Report And Video Highlights

Written by Kerr Ferguson on 29th October 2022.

Katie Taylor vs Karen Elizabeth Carabajal

Katie Taylor beat a bloodied Karen Elizabeth Carabajal via unanimous decision with a showcase performance in the arena where she made her professional debut six years ago.

Tricolours stitched with the name that grabbed women’s boxing and dragged it to incredible heights were waved as that very fighter returned to the ring. Taylor defended her undisputed lightweight championship in style, ultimately proving herself to be a level above a game Carabajal.

It wasn’t a surprise in the eyes of fans, pundits, or bookmakers. Whilst Carabajal came with an undefeated record of 19 fights and 19 wins, all of those scraps have taken place in her home country of Argentina against underwhelming opposition. Having said that, she did have a little success and showed no quit.

It was clear to see immediately that ‘KT’s hand speed was far superior to her opponent’s. So much so that it seemed she could throw three in the time it took for Carabajal to load up and land one. At points it was like a live performance of a boxing CV – in one round she showed her defence, in the next her ability to stand and trade.

At points you got the feeling that Taylor could have made it much easier for herself, but she simply just loves a fight. She took some shots to find a home for her own, and that made the main event worth it for the crowd. In the end, it was scored 100-91, 99-91, 98-92 in the undisputed champion’s favour.

After the decision was announced, she gave herself some rare but much-deserved credit.

“I believe I’m the best in the world and every time I step in the ring I love to prove it.”

Carabajal is no Amanda Serrano, but she was a mandatory challenger and a nice warm up for the real thing, which hopefully we’ll see next. Regardless though, Taylor wants to fight at Croke Park in Dublin in front of 80,000 fans. She said as much in her post-fight interview, and Eddie Hearn agreed.

“Wherever it is, whoever it is, Ireland has to be next for Katie Taylor … It’s time to give Ireland a sporting event they’ll never forget.”

In the chief support, Jordan Gill lost his European title to a relentless Kiko Martinez. The 36-year-old Spaniard dropped Gill three times and gave him an extremely broken nose for his troubles over the four rounds before it was stopped by the referee – the correct decision at the right time. With the victory, Martinez becomes a five-time European Champion. He called out Leigh Wood post-fight.

Elsewhere on the card, ‘The Romford Bull’ Johnny Fisher progressed his fledgling campaign with a first-round knockout over Dominik Musil, Ellie Scotney won the European Super-Bantamweight Title via unanimous deicison against Mary Romero, and Irish lightweight champion, Gary Cully, continued to impress with a stoppage victory just 36 seconds into his fight with Jaouad Belmehdi.