Katie Taylor Unifies WBA And IBF Women’s Lightweight Title
In less than 10 professional fights, Irish boxing star Katie Taylor not only won a world title, but also successfully defend it and now unified two world titles.
In a marquee matchup at a Matchroom Boxing-promoted event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Taylor defeated Victoria Bustos by unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91, 98-92) to unify Taylor's WBA women's lightweight title with Bustos' IBF title.
The 31-year-old Taylor dominated the fight, but Bustos managed to go the distance against Taylor. Bustos did not get many chances to get back into the fight, but Bustos did land several strong uppercuts in the eighth round that made the bout competitive towards the end, but it was a little too late for Bustos. In an interview with Sky Sports after her win, Taylor said her goal is to unify the rest of the women's lightweight world titles by the end of the year.
"I'm there to fight anyone, any of the champions, I want all the belts by the end of this year for sure. I have said it before, I am so lucky to have so many great champions in my division. There are some great fights out there to be made," Taylor said.
Taylor won a Olympic gold medal in boxing in the 2012 Summer Olympics and after an unsuccessful run in the 2016 Olympics, Taylor turned pro and was quickly thrust into the world title picture. Eleven months after winning her pro debut, Taylor won the then-vacant WBA lightweight title when she got a unanimous decision victory over multiple-time world champion Anahi Esther Sanchez. Taylor followed it up with a successful title defense over Jessica McCaskill less than two months after beating Sanchez.
