Boxing
Katie Taylor facing Christina Linardatou on Nov. 2, aiming to become two-division world champion
Katie Taylor is ready to take on a new, bigger challenge.
After being crowned the undisputed world lightweight champion in June, Taylor officially announced Tuesday that she's moving up in weight to challenge WBO junior welterweight champion Christina Linardatou at the Manchester Arena on Nov. 2.
The lure of becoming a two-division world champ was too enticing for the 33-year-old to pass up.
"It’s a new challenge moving up in weight. I’ve worked very hard in the gym to build up," Taylor said during the press conference at The Principal Hotel in Manchester. "You’ll see the very best of me, and I’ll need to be on my game because I think Linardatou is the No. 1 at 140 pounds."
The press conference included Linardatou's promoter, Brian Cohen, voicing his displeasure with the champion not having a rematch clause in the fight contract, and that led to a tense exchange between Cohen and Matchroom Boxing president Eddie Hearn, who promotes Taylor.
That also paved the way for an intense faceoff between Taylor and Linardatou.
Taylor is coming off a majority decision over Delfine Persoon on June 1. She became just the third woman in boxing history to reign as an undisputed world champion. However, the result wasn't without some controversy; many boxing pundits felt like Persoon did enough that her hand could have been raised that night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
That being said, Taylor (14-0, 6 KOs) will look to return to her dominant ways on Nov. 2 against Linardatou (12-1, 6 KOs), whose sole loss coincidentally came against Persoon back in June 2016.
Taylor vs. Linardatou being set for Nov. 2 didn't sit well with Amanda Serrano. The seven-division world champion defeated Heather Hardy on Friday night to claim the WBO and vacant interim WBC featherweight titles and was supposed to face Taylor next. But Taylor moving up in weight has Serrano ready for her third MMA bout.
