Katie Taylor will not fight on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s super-fight against Conor McGregor, according to Leonard Ellerbe.
However, the Mayweather Promotions CEO wants to work with the Irishwoman and promoter Eddie Hearn in the future.
Taylor made a successful US debut last weekend as she forced Texan journeywoman Jasmine Clarkson to retire after three rounds of their Brooklyn bout, with the five-time amateur world champion boosting her undefeated pro record to 6-0.
Taylor had been linked to an an undercard fight on the
August 26 Mayweather-McGregor bill over the weekend, but her team are instead working on an alternative Las Vegas fight date in November.
Despite being impressed by the Bray woman on her US debut, Ellerbe insisted that there is not a support-slot available on the ‘May-Mac’ card.
“Our card is already full,” said the Mayweather Promotions chief. “But the Irish fans are very blessed to have a great fighter in Katie Taylor.
“Oh my God, she is amazing. That was my first time watching her. I love her skill-set,” added Ellerbe, who claimed that he would be keen to work with Matchroom promoter Hearn to book another US date for Taylor in the near future.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “She obviously has a promoter in Eddie Hearn, and obviously he’s a fantastic promoter and somebody I have a great deal of respect for, but she’s phenomenal.
“She’s going to have a big, big career… ‘Wow’ is all I can say!”
Despite the fact that a Mayweather-McGregor support fight looks unlikely, Taylor admitted she would have been keen on the opportunity had it been feasible.
“Obviously I’d jump at it if the opportunity came,” said Taylor. “It would be incredible really. It’s the biggest event in boxing in a long, long time. It’ll the most-watched boxing event in history, I think.
“I was chatting to Leonard [Ellerbe] last week and it’s great to be around those guys, these guys are power houses in boxing and it’s great to build up relationships with those people,” added the five-time amateur world champion, who admitted that she is going with consensus on a Mayweather win next month.
McGregor is a 9/2 underdog with the bookmakers and a number of high-profile fight figures have claimed the fight is a mismatch.
A diplomatic Taylor said: “I don’t know if I’d give him [McGregor] much of a shot really, I’d obviously love to see him do well, but he’s up against the best boxer of our generation.
“If he did win the fight, I’d be very, very surprised, but fair play to him - he’s getting a lot of money for the fight and it’s a win-win situation for him really.”
Despite facing weak opposition in Clarkson last weekend, the 31-year-old impressed US fight figures at ringside, including Ellerbe and former world middleweight title holder Danny Jacobs, who was on commentary duties for US broadcasters Showtime during Taylor’s bout.
“It was very exciting and the reception was great, there was a lot of Irish people in the crowd,” said Taylor, who hopes to fight in the US again soon.
“The whole experience all week was very good and I hope people were impressed by it because I obviously want to build a good fanbase here as well,” she added.
Taylor looks likely to fight again in London next month (September), while Hearn and her manager Brian Peters hope to book a world-title shot for the Bray lightweight on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s anticipated world heavyweight rematch against Wladimir Klitschko, which looks set to take place in Vegas on November 11.
