Katie Taylor believes New York undercard is a “fitting” place for World Title Unification

Katie Taylor [8(4)-0] claims that New York rather than Dublin will be the perfect place to unify world titles.

It was confirmed last night by Matchroom that the WBA lightweight champion would take on IBF titlist Victoria Noelia Bustos [18(0)-4(0)] at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday April 28th.

Taylor-Bustos will act as support on the Matchroom USA bill to the middleweight clash between Danny Jacobs and Maciej Sulecki, and the heavyweight title eliminator between Jarrell Miller and Johann Duhaupas.

The announcement came as no surprise to Irish fight fans, who had seen Bustos herself confirm and discuss the bout over the past week.

As well as the opponent, the venue too had long been mooted after a proposed homecoming disappointingly fell through.

Taylor, after seeing a world title homecoming in November scrapped in favour of winning the belt v Anahi Esther Sanchez in Cardiff, had been due to have her first fight in Ireland on April 14th where a unification was planned.

Regrettably, though, this will not happen and, while a homecoming in September has been mentioned, it is believed that plans for a fight in Ireland have been postponed indefinitely as the lucrative U.S. market is targeted.

Now, rather than a big headline appearance at the 3Arena in Dublin, Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn has elected to have Taylor unify the belts in America where she will be third on the billing. The fight will still be shown live on Sky Sports, however the Wicklow lightweight’s bout will not be part of the HBO broadcast in America.

Bray legend Taylor, however, is happy to be bringing the belts together away from home.

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist, who defended her WBA belt in London v Jessica McCaskill in December, also fought at the same venue last Summer on the Mikey Garcia v Adrien Broner undercard.

Taylor believes New York is the perfect place for her next fight and noted how “I got a great reception when I fought there last year so I’m really looking forward to boxing there again.”

“It’s a unification fight and the Barclays Center is a fitting venue for a big fight like that.”

29-year-old Argentinian Bustos has held the IBF belt for four-and-a-half years, successfully defending it five times.

The South American looks to be Taylor’s best opponent thus far, and the Irish 31-year-old is ready to take another step on the way to dominating the sport further.

“Becoming unified champion is very important to me,” said Taylor.

“Last year was great but I’m not really one for looking back and it’s all about the next challenge. I believe that winning my first world title as a pro is just the start of it, I want to fight all the other champions and unify the lightweight division.”

“Bustos is one of the longest reigning champions in women’s boxing so I’m expecting a very tough fight. I’ve been back in training camp in Connecticut since the beginning of the month so the hard work has started and I’m excited to have the chance to win another World title.”

“I got a great reception when I fought there last year so I’m really looking forward to boxing there again. It’s a unification fight and the Barclays Center is a fitting venue for a big fight like that.”