WBA lightweight champion Katie Taylor will make the second defence of her belt on April 28 when she meets IBF titleholder Victoria Bustos in a unification contest at the Barclays Center in New York. The Irishwoman is unbeaten since turning professional in 2016 and will be hoping to make it win number nine, which will be her latest step in becoming the undisputed lightweight champion.

Taylor won her first world title last October when she was given the decision by the judges in her ten round contest against Anahi Sanchez for the vacant title in Cardiff on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua versus Carlos Takam event. The former Olympic gold medalist dropped her Argentine opponent in the second round with a shot to the ribs and went on to get the unanimous decision as all three judges scored it 99-90 in favour of Taylor.

The 31-year-old made her opening defence of her belt back in December where  she topped the bill against Jessica McCaskill  she topped the bill against Jessica McCaskill at London’s York Hall. She once again won by unanimous decision. However, she was made to work hard for her latest victory. Taylor was dropped a point in the seventh round by the referee for holding onto her opponent, but it did not make a difference as the scorecards read 97-92, 97-92 and 98-91.

Bustos goes into the fight with Taylor as the much more experienced professional boxer, as this will be her 23rd contest in the paid ranks. La Leona, as she is nicknamed, has never fought outside of Argentina before, so this will be a big night in her career at the Barclay’s Center in what is a support contest on the Daniel Jacobs vs Maciej Sulecki bill, where the American is the -1000 favourite on the boxing card in New York.

The IBF lightweight champion has held her belt since September 2013, when she beat compatriot Ana Esteche by decision. Since then, Bustos has made five successful defences of the title, with her most recent victory coming over Maria Capriolo.

Bustos has suffered four defeats so far in her career. The 29-year-old challenged for the WBC crown in 2012 where she lost to Erica Farias. Four years later she got her second shot at Farias’ belt but once again she was unable to get the better of her foe.

Predicting the outcome of this fight will not be easy. Both boxers have won medals and titles and both have suffered very minimal losses (for Taylor this happened even before turning professional). Trying to compare how they did against similar opponents therefore – a good strategy strategy when trying to predict boxing results  when trying to predict boxing results – can only help to a certain degree. Despite the losses, both have a relatively clean record, which is perhaps why there are so many high expectations for this fight.

This fight will be Taylor’s second visit to the Barclay’s Centre as she also appeared there last July, beating America’s Jasmine Clarkson in front of a large contingent of Irish supporters who had turned out to see their former Olympian continue her journey as a professional boxer.

Taylor Aiming For All Four World Titles By End of 2018

Taylor has indicated that her goal in 2018 is to win all four world titles in the lightweight division. A victory over Bustos would put her halfway to that target with another eight months left in the year.
WBO champion Rose Volante is likely to be the Irishwoman’s next opponent if she overcomes Bustos without any problems. The Brazilian won her belt last December after beating Brenda Carabajal by majority decision to bring her record up to 13-0, with seven knockouts.

The win against Carabajal ensured that Volante became the first female world champion out of Brazil. She got off to a flying start with a knockout in the first and second rounds of the fight. Her Argentinian opponent then recovered well but was too far behind on the judges’ cards at the end of the tenth round.

A fight against Volante would likely take place in the United States where there would be a huge television audience given how much of a star the Brazilian is becoming in her home country. Taylor is considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in women’s boxing and a win over Volante would help her cement her place at the top end of the ratings.

Taylor’s last step towards becoming the undisputed lightweight champion could be against Delfine Persoon who is one of the longest-serving world title holders in the sport today. The Belgian has been a professional since 2009, therefore she has a lot of experience in the ring.

Persoon won her first world title in 2011 when she defeated Nicole Boss for the IBF crown. Three years later, she obtained the WBC title, the belt she currently holds, following a points victory over Farias.  The 33-year-old has only suffered one defeat in her 40 professional bouts. Her sole loss came early in her career against fellow Belgian compatriot Zelda Tekin where she was stopped in the fourth round in Izegem.

Taylor’s future in women’s boxing is clearly very bright but she can’t afford to take her eye off the prize against Bustos who is set to be the toughest test of her career so far.