Taylor to rematch with American most say gave her her toughest fight
By Michael O’Neill
Irish boxing fans will be delighted to hear that many times USA & Pan American champion Queen Underwood’s last fight as an amateur is likely to take place here in Ireland on February 20th with ‘ usually reliable sources’ suggesting the bout is set to be in Kerry and organised by one of the local clubs, perhaps Tralee BC though one can never rule out the very enterprising Trojan BC in Listowel.
Underwood’s opponent ? None other than Ireland’s own -and only -Olympic Gold medallist from London 2012, Katie Taylor who the previous night in Kanturk, Co. Cork will have met Sweden’s champion Jelena Jelic who is also qualified to represent Serbia in international competition.
No official confirmation yet of the Taylor v Underwood bout but sources in both countries suggest an agreement is close and a formal announcement is expected in the coming days. One possible venue would be the Brandon Hotel & Conference Centre in the Kerry capital which has housed previous club tournaments and with its good road and rail links would be within easy reach of those wishing to attend from nearby counties and further afield.
Who will forget that Underwood was within seconds of inflicting a sensational defeat on Taylor back in the 2010 AIBA World championships in Barbados, when with the fight all but ‘lost’ the Bray woman made an amazing comeback in the last few seconds to emerge victorious (18:16) and later go on to take her 3rd AIBA World Lightweight title.
Now two world titles later, the Bray woman, is aiming not only for a 6th in a row title in Kazakhstan in 2016 and of course hopes to qualify for a tilt at a 2nd successive Olympic Gold in Rio. First though Taylor like all female boxers has to finish in the top 2 in the European AOB qualifier in Sansun, Turkey or a top 4 finish in Astana in the Worlds.
More news on the Taylor v Underwood bout when we have it inc location and ticketing details.
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