Katie Taylor says she’s ready for challenge from Furiza Sharipova

Boxing weigh-ins can be sparky affairs, from passive-aggressive stares to full contact exchanges. On Friday Firuza Sharipova, who faces Katie Taylor on Saturday night in Liverpool, gave the setpiece an unusually amicable twist.

“Gift for you,” said the smiling lightweight from Kazakhstan as she handed Taylor a football. That might have been a veiled reference to Taylor’s past as an international footballer or a hint to the multi-belt champion she should have stuck to the team game.

Either way, it will never be known, although the peaceable gesture must be considered the latest psychological punch thrown at the Bray world champion after the 27-year-old also declared it as a point of note that she was eight years younger than the 35-year-old.

That may be so. But drilling down on Sharipova’s 14-1 record and there is a boxer woefully short on big match experience. Seven of her 15 bouts have been against boxers making their professional debuts and her one loss was on her own debut against the woman Taylor beat in the 2012 Olympic final, Russia’s Sofya Ochigava.

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All week Sharipova has been trying to get inside the head of Taylor with tales of being coached by the Russian southpaw. As ever, the response from Taylor has been between heard-it-all-before and nonplussed weariness.

“No one else knows how to fight Taylor like Sofya Ochigava,” declared Sharipova. “Therefore, not only I, Firuza Sharipova, will be in the ring against Taylor, but the intelligence of Sofya Ochigava, who has prepared me very well for this fight, will be with me.”

Taylor weighed in at 134lb 11oz, just 7oz heavier than her slightly taller opponent, who last fought in September against Liubov Beliakova, winning by TKO. Again Beliakova was making her debut.

Straight wins

Sharipova is the mandatory challenger and is hoping to put a stop to Taylor’s streak of 19 straight wins since turning professional after the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. All four belts – WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF – are on the line again.

Taylor has been defending one or all of her belts since 2017, with Belgium’s Delfine Persoon in New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2019 the closest anyone has gotten to prising them from her grasp.

The Garden is not far from lips this week with what is seen as the biggest fight in the lightweight division and probably in women's boxing. Taylor and Amanda Serrano are being openly spoken about again, maybe next spring. Maybe not. That's the way it has gone for a few years now.

Either way, Taylor is not one for getting ahead of herself.

“I’m very aware of the challenge on Saturday night. I haven’t overlooked this opponent at all,” said Taylor on Thursday.

“I know what she brings. I am prepared for whatever comes my way. I am also aware that there are so many big fights out there for me and that the bigger names could possibly happen next year. I have to get through Saturday night first and then we can obviously focus on the bigger fights ahead.”

Technical ability

Sharipova is in good condition and looks strong but will not have the technical ability of the world champion. It should be interesting what Ochigava brings, as she is left-handed and Sharipova is orthodox. Ochigava also counter-punched against Taylor over rounds in which there were few sustained exchanges. That requires patience and greater speed than her opponent. Against Taylor that seems unlikely.

“There’s so many upsets this year in the boxing world, where people have maybe gone into the ring under-prepared or overlooking certain opponents,” said Taylor. “That obviously can’t happen.

“I’ve made that mistake before as an amateur fighter, where I’ve overlooked opponents and been beaten as an amateur. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way. So, I’m 100 per cent prepared coming into this fight and 100 per cent focused.”

Another fighter on the undercard that has drawn significant interest is Belfast middleweight Caoimhín Agyarko Hynes, who comes to Liverpool with a 9-0 record with six KOs.

Born in Croydon, London to an Irish mother, Rosaleen Hynes from Belfast, and a Ghanaian father, Atta Agyarko, he takes on Noe Larios jnr, who has won 14 times with six KOs. The vacant WBA international middleweight belt is up for grabs.

Katie Taylor v Furiza Sharipova is streaming on DAZN on Saturday at 9pm approx