Katie Taylor has weighed in a pound inside the limit for her WBO super-lightweight title fight with Christina Linardatou in Manchester.
Taylor tipped the scales at 139.6lbs, just over a pound heavier than title-holder Linardatou (138.5lbs).
The Bray fighter is aiming to become just the third ever Irish fighters after Steve Collins and Carl Frampton to win world titles in different weight divisions.
"WE CAN ALL PULL ABOUT!"
Vivian Obenauf did a @Carl_Froch impression on @TerriHarper96 at today's weigh-in 🤝😁 pic.twitter.com/6bWjvhW3QM— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) November 1, 2019
Taylor is already the reigning WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight champion and has won each of her 14 professional fights to date. Her last outing saw her prevail over Delfine Persoon by majority decision to unify that lightweight division.
Linardatou began her career five years ago in her birthplace of the Dominican Republic, with her only career defeat coming to Persoon in June of 2016 when she lost by unanimous decision to the Belgian in a contest for the WBC world lightweight crown.
Her most recent outing came in June when she beat Deanha Hobbs in Athens to retain the WBO world super-lightweight belt.
The bout headlines Saturday night's card at the Manchester Arena where Anthony Crolla fights for the final time by facing Frank Urquiaga.
Linardatou is ready for anything Taylor may throw at her, "I expect a fight like the mouse and the cat... but if it's not, I can handle anything to get what I want."
Taylor claims to have no qualms about stepping up in weight, "I'm in against bigger and stronger girls but I've done hundreds and hundreds of rounds of sparring over the past few years, and lots of strength and conditioning.
"There are lots of big fights available but I have to get past Christina first. It's a big night for me."
Meanwhile, Taylor has criticised next week's fight between Youtubers KSI and Logan Paul.
The pair meet at the Staples Center in Los Angeles next week in a fight promoted by Taylor's own promoter, Eddie Hearn.
Despite the connection, Taylor told Talksport she's far from impressed by the impending freakshow, "I'm not really sure what to make of the [Logan Paul v KSI] fight.
“It makes a mockery of the sport.”
“These YouTubers are headlining a big show. It’s all about business.”
“I love the purity of the sport. This is our lives, it’s what we’ve trained towards.”@KatieTaylor tells @DomMcGuinness1 she is not a fan of #KSILoganPaul2 🥊 pic.twitter.com/CpX3HDbx2O— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) November 1, 2019
"Sometimes I think it makes a mockery of the sport in that these two Youtubers are headlining a big show. It's all about business as well, I understand that.
"I'm just interested in the purity of the sport. I love fighters going toe-to-toe together.
"This is our lives really, this is something that we've trained towards since we were 10 or 11 years of age.
"We've had these amateur competitions, we've stood in the dressing room not knowing who we're going to fight in these amateur competitions.
"We've put our bodies on the line week-in and week-out for years and years now. I love the fight game, I love the purity of the sport and there's something very noble about going in the trenches against your opponent.
"I just love that side of the sport really, I don't like the other side of it - the stunts or anything - I just want to see good fights really".
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
