Detroit Rock City: Claressa Shields Looks to Turn Up the Volume Against Maricela Cornejo, Blow the Roof off Little Caesars Arena

 

Claressa Shields’ boxing skills are debatably surpassed only by her self-confidence, both of which she has come by the hard way. Her struggle for recognition as “the face of boxing” and “Greatest Woman of All Time” is a mountain she continues to scale despite having planted her own flag on that summit years ago. 

That these truths, which to her are self-evident, are not universally accepted at face value is genuinely perplexing to Claressa, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division undisputed world champion. And yet being denied such grandiose acknowledgement by the general public serves Shields as the sort of incentive with which another middleweight great, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, also fueled his engine. 

It keeps her hunger burning, a reminder of the early days in the gym for the poor girl from Flint who had to dig deep to muster the strength to get through her workouts because she was nutritionally depleted from not having eaten for days. Now, money and decent meals are not a problem. 

Getting other people—the ones who view her as little more than a brash shit-talker with a chip on her shoulder—to see what she sees, share her vision, and invest in her dream the way fans did with the equally cocky but ultimately beloved Muhammad Ali, this remains a problem for Claressa. Even after selling out the O2 Arena last October in her revenge win over Savannah Marshall on the Brit’s home soil, righting an amateur wrong and becoming undisputed champion at middleweight for the second time in the process.

After two consecutive outings in the UK, Shields returns this Saturday to her home state of Michigan, the 20,000-seat Little Caesars Arena in Detroit specifically. An immediate rematch with Savannah Marshall apparently wasn’t part of the plan, but a super fight against Natasha Jonas definitely was. At least until the brakes were reportedly slammed on the negotiations by Jonas’ unreasonable monetary demands. 

Enter Hanna Gabriels. Or should I say re-enter, as Hanna and Claressa had crossed paths in Detroit five years ago. Gabriels is still the only woman, amateur or pro, to put Shields on her back pocket courtesy of a right uppercut that dislodged Claressa’s mouthpiece and produced a flash knockdown in the first round. Nonplussed, Claressa picked herself off the deck and outboxed Gabriels the rest of the way to earn a comfortable decision. A return bout between the two was signed, sealed, and delivered for June 3. But wait. The drama swirling around Shields’ potential opponents wasn’t over just yet.         

This brings us to top-ranked contender and former world title challenger Maricela Cornejo who was originally scheduled for a June 6 bout at 154 pounds, but jumped at the chance to take the Shields fight on nine days’ notice when Gabriels was pulled off the bill due to failing a voluntary VADA drug test.

In an effort to clear her name and push back at accusations of being a “dirty fighter,” Hanna went public with her version of events which, long story short, amount to having Clostebol, the banned substance in question, enter her bloodstream through the medication she had been administering to her French bulldog which had just given birth. Gabriels says she was forthright about the details with VADA and declined the opportunity to take a second test after being told that she could face a three to five year ban for producing another positive result. As it stands now, she could already be sidelined for up to one year for failing the first test, pending the outcome of VADA’s investigation.     

With more than a decade’s worth of experience competing in the prize ring but no amateur background to speak of, 36 year-old Maricela ‘La Diva’ Cornejo made her pro debut five days before Claressa Shields won her gold medal match at the 2012 Olympics. Four years later, Maricela was granted her first crack at a world championship in just her sixth fight, having compiled a 4-1 record and won the WBC International super-middleweight title along the way. 

Shields, meanwhile, had already circled her date with destiny in Rio de Janeiro on her calendar thanks to running the gauntlet at the Pan American Olympic qualifying tournament four weeks earlier. Claressa, of course, became the first U.S. boxer of either gender to repeat as Olympic champion. As for Cornejo, she dropped a split decision to Kali Reis, who took home the vacant WBC middleweight title. 

Primarily campaigning in the 168-pound division, Maricela subsequently embarked on an eight-fight win streak which led her to a second world title shot, this time against Franchon Crews Dezurn for the unclaimed WBC super-middleweight belt. Another frustrating loss for Cornejo resulted, with two judges giving Crews Dezurn a wide victory by matching margins of 99-91, whereas Patricia Morse Jarman scored the bout a draw. 

One year later, all three judges were in agreement and Franchon retained her title while additionally claiming the vacant WBO strap in their rematch. By this time, Shields had already become undisputed at middleweight by dominating the previously undefeated WBC/WBO title holder, Christina Hammer.   

For those keeping score at home, the 16-5 (6 KOs) Cornejo has been three times unlucky in world title fights. However, since the three-strikes-your-out rule applies to baseball and not to boxing, Maricela finds herself this Saturday the last-minute recipient of a fourth shot at championship glory. And undisputed status at that. 

On a strictly by-the-number basis, it’s undeniable that Cornejo poses little threat to Claressa’s reign. But statistics do often tell only half the story when it comes to women’s boxing. Speaking of numbers, Cornejo has been referring to her newly revamped self as “Maricela 2.0” and promises that the upgrade will be clear for all to see come fight night. In front of her home crowd, Shields will obviously set out to short circuit Maricela 2.0 and add one more notch to her belt. Or belts, as it were. 

One major component to Shields’ perceived credibility gap is the lack of quality opposition in her weight class relative to the deep talent pools from 105 pounds to 140 and every women’s division in between. Naturally, this is no fault of Claressa’s. With the exceptions of Cornejo (until Saturday, anyway) and Raquel Miller, she has basically wiped the mat with every meaningful contender and defending or former champion that the middleweight division has to offer. 

But we all know it’s elite super fights which are the building blocks that establish a boxer’s lasting legacy. With notables like Natasha Jonas, Terri Harper, and Cecilia Braekhus now competing in adjacent weight classes, they represent a few of the more intriguing and realistic options that Shields has to entertain and, as mentioned earlier, she already tried unsuccessfully to corner Jonas.

People like to invoke the names of fellow undisputed champions Katie Taylor, Chantelle Cameron, and Jessica McCaskill but the more pragmatic boxing enthusiasts among us know that the weight differentials make any and all of these fights an impossibility. 

Bar none, a rematch and undisputed vs. undisputed showdown with the winner of the July 1 bout between Franchon Crews Dezurn and Savannah Marshall is easily and logically the biggest fight out there for Claressa from both a money and legacy perspective.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s give Maricela Cornejo the benefit of the doubt that she will prove to be a worthy adversary and allow Claressa her moment to shine on her home turf before the largest American audience she will have fought in front of. 

You Can't Go Home Again: Chantelle Cameron Spoils Katie Taylor's Return to Ireland

 

When they last met inside a boxing ring twelve years ago as apple-cheeked amateurs, Chantelle Cameron was overcome both by her idolatry of Katie Taylor and by the Irish phenom herself. Last night in Dublin, Cameron proved that she long ago abandoned such youthful fawning and trepidation. 

Defending her undisputed world super-lightweight championship against the reigning queen of the 135-pound division, she entered into the bout as Katie’s equal. In defiance of the seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against her–fighting a living legend in hostile territory before a rabidly partisan crowd–Chantelle emerged as Taylor’s conqueror.

Commenced with anxiety, anticipation, and pressure applied both externally and from within, homecomings evoke a head-spinning, heart-racing range of sensations and expectations. Some are celebratory affairs spent refamiliarizing oneself with cherished faces and landscapes that happily quicken the pulse. Sorry and somber are others, painful reminders of why we left in the first place and can’t wait to leave again soon enough. Perhaps a sampling of both dizzying ends of the spectrum, reunions and regrets that produce tears in equal measure, and a soul-searching trek through the peaks and valleys that lie in between. 

Surely it was no different for Ireland’s returning hero Katie Taylor, running the full gauntlet of mixed emotions in Dublin not unlike the way she tirelessly runs the hills of Connecticut while doing her road work during training camps in New England. 

“It’s not the way I wanted my homecoming to go,” a breathless and humble Taylor expressed during the post-fight interview, “but I’m just so grateful for all the support I got regardless. Congratulations to Chantelle for a fantastic performance and thank you so much for this opportunity to fight for your belts. And I look forward to the rematch.”

Though it was Cameron putting her titles on the line, she was being spoken of in the lead-up to the event as a mere participant, almost as an afterthought. The foregone conclusion reached by many was that Katie would survive an undeniably tough fight to triumph over adversity as she has done time and again. A homecoming coronation. The observance of a national treasure being immortalized in her own lifetime.

Speaking of which, former world champion Deirdre Gogarty was present for the occasion. The Irish pioneer, who boxed for eight years throughout the 1990s and is best remembered for her headline-making war with Christy Martin at Madison Square Garden, has presumably received more than her fair share of fan letters over the past three decades. One of those admirers who put pen to paper was a young girl by the name of Katie Taylor. Gogarty fought out of her hometown of Drogheda, which will soon be commemorating her legacy by erecting a statue in her likeness. She and Katie got to spend time together during fight week for the first time in over ten years.

The red carpet was unfurled at Taylor’s feet every step along the way from touching down at Dublin Airport to the 3Arena. What could possibly go wrong? Chantelle Cameron was more than happy to supply the answer to that question.    

The morning of May 20 got off to an unceremonious start with the announcement that Cecilia Braekhus had woken up with the flu and was forced to withdraw from her co-main event fight against Terri Harper. Instead, Harper’s maiden WBA world super-welterweight title defense will take place next Saturday in Manchester against Ivana Habazin. The show would have to go on without them. 

Flouting convention, the defending champion was first to enter the squared circle. Katie’s ring walk was a near ten-minute prelude to the featured attraction that everyone inside the packed house and watching at home was waiting for. This included Cameron, who patiently bided her time, waiting for her chance to take center stage and play the spoiler. As indicated by the boos resounding throughout 3Arena at the mere mention of her name, Chantelle was clearly cast as the villain by the Dublin fight fans.   

Esteemed referee Sparkle Lee had drawn the assignment as third person in the ring, assuring that this momentous encounter was in very capable hands. Well aware that allowing this to be a scientific boxing match would work to Taylor’s advantage, the key to success for the bigger, stronger Cameron was to take the fight to Katie and keep pressing forward behind her battering ram of a left jab. Sure enough, just after Sparkle Lee motioned the two combatants together and stepped aside, Chantelle opened the show with four jabs followed by an overhand right, forcing Taylor into reverse. 

Cameron continued to stalk Katie, methodically walking her down without having to give chase. A surprisingly compliant Taylor backed up in a straight line with little of her customary lateral movement, making herself a rather easy target for Chantelle’s jabs, crosses, uppercuts and body shots. A truly impressive punch selection.

Comfortable working off the backfoot, Taylor had her best moments when occasionally peppering an advancing Cameron with the lightning quick combinations that are her trademark. A straight right that connected flush on Cameron’s jawline was Katie’s best punch in the early going. But few and far between were these glimmering beacons of hope for the time being.

Unphased, Cameron kept surging ahead and was getting the better of these exchanges in the process of compiling an early lead throughout the first several rounds with her ruthless aggression. Chantelle’s formidable power and punishing body blows were having their desired effect, the impact of her punches audible at ringside despite the deafening football chants from the Taylor faithful giving voice in unison to their unbridled support. In the fourth round, and again in the fifth, one of Katie’s braids had come loose and her vision was compromised by the unfettered strands of hair, an impairment she could ill afford with her survival dependent upon defending herself from the power punches raining down on her.        

In typical championship style, just as she had done in her battles against Persoon and Serrano, Katie Taylor began to turn the tide in the second half of the fight, swinging the momentum in her favor by letting go with punches in greater numbers and evading Cameron’s incoming volleys by pulling her head off the line and employing nimble footwork to skip out of the danger zone after initiating the eyeball to eyeball engagements that she was now coming out on top of.   

Unable to resist a phonebooth-type scrap, and maybe sensing that she was well behind on the scorecards and needed to dramatically turn the tables on Cameron, Taylor threw caution to the wind by standing and trading with Chantelle in close quarters. Katie was throwing and landing at a greater volume, but was still absorbing hard shots to the head and body for her gutsy effort. 

Down the home stretch, Katie put valuable rounds in the bank and the fight was becoming nerve-wrackingly close to call. Again, a familiar theme for Taylor. But this time was her rally too little, too late? A lumped up Cameron was showing no signs of letting up. That was simply not a luxury she could afford against a fighter of Taylor’s stature. And least of all in Katie’s emotional homecoming with the possibility of the judges being swayed by the crowd reaction and the historic immensity of the event and everything it represented to the Irish superstar.  

The decisive rounds nine and ten were fought at close quarters with both battle-damaged combatants emptying their arsenals in the hopes of finishing the show with a declarative closing statement that would speak for itself when it came time for the verdict to be rendered. 

When the scores were totaled and being read by ring announcer David Diamante, Sparkle Lee stood at center ring gripping Taylor and Cameron by the hand in anticipation of raising the arm of the victor. Patrick Morley had the fight dead even at 95 apiece, while Craig Metcalfe and Raul Caiz both arrived at 96-94 tallies in favor of Chantelle Cameron. 

This event was conceived of and staged for the deification of Ireland’s boxing goddess. But the night now belonged to Northampton’s undisputed super-lightweight champion, who had just accomplished what many considered the unthinkable by becoming the first professional fighter to defeat the great Katie Taylor.                

Two major takeaways from this. Cameron was the better fighter on the night and, beyond a shadow of a doubt, deserved the decision. She had expressed doubts about receiving fair treatment from the judges but ultimately reason and impartiality prevailed. As did Chantelle. 

Secondly, Taylor’s legacy in no way suffers from this defeat. As startling as it was to see her adversary’s hand raised for the first time in the pro ranks, it is unavoidable when the best of the best fight one another. You win some, you lose some. It’s really as simple as that. People need to get over this silly preoccupation with a boxer having a number larger than zero in his or her loss column and that this somehow tarnishes their legacy or sullies their reputation.  

Well before her loss to Cameron, there have been many who have wondered whether Katie Taylor’s best days are in the rearview mirror and how many more wars like the ones she has contested against Chantelle, Amanda Serrano, Delfine Persoon, and Christina Linardatou she has left in her. With that in mind, what is next? 

The way Eddie Hearn is talking, Amanda Serrano made them wait last year to sign for a rematch with Taylor, so they’re content to put her on the back burner in favor of pursuing an immediate return bout with Cameron before the year is up. Hearn contends that this is not only a top priority, but the only one. Chantelle is game, and wants to flip the script next time by coming down to 135 and challenging Katie for her belts in a bid to become a two-weight undisputed champion. As last night’s winner, and arguably the new pound for pound best female boxer on the planet, it’s only right that she calls the shots.  

With the Harper/Braekhus match scrapped at the last minute, the only other women’s bout on the bill was the curtain raiser which saw flyweight standout Maisey Rose Courtney improve her professional record to 3-0 with a six-round unanimous decision over Kate Radomska, who hails from Waterford, Ireland by way of Poland. 

“The human mind is a fearful instrument of adaptation, and in nothing is this more clearly shown than in the mysterious powers of resilience, self-protection, and self-healing,” Thomas Wolfe wrote in his novel You Can’t Go Home Again. “Unless an event completely shatters the order of one’s life, the mind, if it has youth and health and time enough, accepts the inevitable and gets ready for the next happening like a grimly dutiful American tourist who, on arriving at a new town, looks around him, takes his bearings, and says, ‘Well, where do I go from here?’”

Getting to the Heart of Dublin: A Look Ahead to Katie Taylor's Undisputed Homecoming Clash with Chantelle Cameron

 

Katie Taylor climbed between the ropes at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theatre back in February not only to congratulate a blood-drenched and victorious Amanda Serrano, but to be on hand while Eddie Hearn announced their rematch for May 20 in Dublin. Each woman's arms were weighted down with gold belts as they stood across from one another, Amanda just having triumphed in brutal fashion over WBA featherweight title holder Erika Cruz to become undisputed champion.

Taylor and Serrano now both possessed all the hardware in their respective divisions, adding an unprecedented element of historic significance to their return bout, as if the fact that this would be Katie Taylor’s first professional outing in Ireland wasn’t enough icing on an already multi-layered cake. An extra sweet treat for the fans who deliriously gorged on their headlining fight of the year last April to enjoy during this homecoming party for Katie. 

The celebration was short-lived, however. Just four weeks later came Serrano’s withdrawal from the fight due to an undisclosed injury suffered during training, pushing the rematch back theoretically until early autumn. Already inactive since last October when she decisioned Karen Carbajal, Taylor was not content to sit on idle hands until then.

Katie quickly took to social media to see if Chantelle Cameron, who herself wasted little time throwing her hat into the ring as a hopeful replacement for Serrano, was earnestly up to the challenge for May 20. She got her response almost immediately. “Let’s do it!” tweeted Cameron. It was pretty much that easy to get the match made and the fans’ disappointment at not getting the sequel to Taylor vs. Serrano was soon forgotten.

It’s still undisputed vs undisputed on May 20, only now with Katie moving up to 140 pounds and Cameron risking her complete set of belts. Chantelle added the missing pieces to her super-lightweight crown by beating then-undisputed welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill last November, defending her WBC and IBF titles and picking up the WBA, WBO, and IBO belts vacated by Kali Reis in the process.    

Taylor and Cameron last shared a ring twelve years ago in the semi-finals of the 2011 EUBC Women’s EU Championships in Katowice, Poland. With only thirteen previous contests and one international tournament under her belt at the time, Cameron admitted to being “starstruck” in the presence of Taylor, whose praises had been sung to her by Savannah Marshall and Nicola Adams. Both of Chantelle’s teammates enthused over Katie as being “a God in Boxing” and Taylor’s reputation indeed preceded her even back then.

Overcoming gender-biased adversity just to gain the opportunity to record the first official entry on her amateur ledger almost a full decade prior to tangling with Cameron in Poland, the Irish phenom had competed in excess of 120 fights to date with fewer than ten losses among them. Taylor would easily outpoint a captivated and overmatched Cameron 28-10 and go on to defeat Karolina Graczyk of the host country the very next day to add yet another championship victory to her ever-growing tally.

If her accomplishments up to that point were already the stuff of legend, winning gold at the 2012 Olympics solidified Katie’s status as a full-fledged deity walking amongst mere mortals. Even if her wings were clipped and she was humbly brought back down to earth four years later in Rio, prompting Taylor to build onto her legacy at the professional level. Which she has undoubtedly done.

While campaigning in the 135-pound weight class, where she won the IBO world championship in only her fifth pro fight, Cameron was named by the WBC as Katie’s mandatory challenger in July 2019 after successfully defending her Silver title with a resounding ten-round decision over Anisha Basheel. Taylor had just controversially unseated reigning WBC world champion Delfine Persoon one month prior at Madison Square Garden to become undisputed at lightweight. “My strengths are her weaknesses,” boasted a still respectful but more self-confident and less starry-eyed Cameron about battling her hero, insisting that Katie would “crumble” under the pressure she would apply.

Chantelle grew weary of waiting by the phone for a call that clearly wasn’t coming. Having dipped her toes into the 140-pound waters on two previous occasions, Cameron opted to commit to the super-lightweight division and won the vacant WBC world title in October 2020 by shutting out previously undefeated Adriana dos Santos Araujo, her first obstacle overcome on the road to undisputed. An improved and more multifaceted boxer now than she was four years ago, much less than since getting schooled by Taylor in 2011, Cameron poses a very credible threat to Katie’s untarnished professional record. For that matter, Chantelle too has yet to taste defeat as a pro.       

Not that she could have ever been defined as a one-dimensional fighter, but the heavy-handed Cameron has added impressive variables to her all-around boxing technique while simultaneously increasing her ring IQ since joining forces with current coach Jamie Moore. This is as good a time as any to discuss Chantelle’s split from previous trainer Shane McGuigan and its ramifications on the May 20 homecoming card in Dublin. We’ll get back to Moore momentarily.

Ellie Scotney, who is trained by McGuigan, was slated to challenge IBF super-bantamweight world champion Cherneka Johnson on the Taylor/Cameron undercard. No sooner was the announcement of the fight made public than it was yanked off the bill, with Matchroom citing a request on behalf of Team Cameron that McGuigan not be involved with the show in any capacity.

This was not the arbitrary demand of some diva it might have been mistaken for. Chantelle’s parting of ways with McGuigan was founded upon the necessity to extricate herself from what she contends was an atmosphere of mistreatment stemming from toxic masculinity. A nondisclosure pact prevents Cameron from going into specifics but suffice it to say the situation was harmful to her mental health. To the point where Chantelle seriously considered quitting boxing. It tells you everything you need to know that the mere thought of having McGuigan in the same building on the biggest night of her life was a deal breaker for Cameron.      

Eddie Hearn, fearful that Chantelle would walk away otherwise, which he later divulged was a very real possibility, granted her wish. Scotney was understandably upset by the expulsion and voiced her displeasure on social media, her remarks singling out Cameron who responded with an apology along with an appeal for Ellie’s sympathy for the emotional dilemma she found herself mired in. The Cherneka Johnson/Ellie Scotney title fight has since found a new home at Wembley Arena on June 10. 

Katie Taylor has a proven track record of exhibiting not just a simple willingness but a deep desire to take the biggest and best fights available. The fact that she handpicked Chantelle Cameron as a substitute for Amanda Serrano for her homecoming dance partner gives every indication that Katie is true to her word. “This is one of the most exciting fights out there right now and once I heard Serrano was out,” Taylor commented, “I thought Chantelle was the obvious choice as she has the style to make this another epic and it could be another contender for fight of the year.” 

It goes without saying that headlining a fight card in her homeland as an undefeated, undisputed world champion is a very momentous event for Katie. That it was so long in the making speaks to the logistical nightmare of staging a major boxing card in Dublin. The security risk involved can be traced back to a fatal shooting that occurred during a 2016 weigh-in at the Regency Hotel. An escalation of the long-running blood feud between the Kinahan and Hutch cartels, it is believed that this was an attempted hit on boxing promoter and organized crime leader Daniel Kinahan, who ran the now defunct MTK Global and guided the career of Chantelle Cameron among others. Despite the fact that Cameron is no longer represented by Kinahan’s management, a tangential connection remains by way of her trainer Jamie Moore, who is known to have had direct ties to the gang boss for some time.   

Theoretically, Taylor’s dream of fighting in Ireland could not have been realized unless Kinahan, and the potential for random acts of violence his association with the sport represented, was removed from the equation. However, even with the sanctions placed against Kinahan and subsequent disbandment of MTK Global, Croke Park demanded what Eddie Hearn complained was an unreasonable security deposit of €500,000 to host Katie’s homecoming, what with Kinahan still at large and posing a threat. Despite UFC fighter and Taylor supporter Conor McGregor intervening with an offer to foot the bill, the event was moved to the considerably smaller and more manageable 3Arena.

With a seating capacity of 8,000, 3Arena can accommodate only one-tenth the number of spectators as the 82,000-seat Croke Park where it is hoped the rescheduled Taylor/Serrano rematch will still take place, assuming it does. Taylor’s change of opponent and the pending outcome of her bout against Cameron present a choose-your-own-adventure array of alternate possibilities.

For starters, if Cameron can rain on Katie’s homecoming parade and pull off the upset, she of course becomes an immediate superstar but both women still retain their respective belts and go their separate ways. Unless their bout is an instant classic, warranting a second go-around. If so, when? And at what weight next time?

Things get far more interesting in the event Taylor emerges victorious. As a two-division undisputed champion, she can’t have her cake and eat it too in two weight classes simultaneously, forcing her into making a difficult decision. Will she vacate the super-lightweight title and return to 135 from whence she came? Or does Katie keep Cameron’s titles, stay at 140, relinquish her claim to the lightweight crown, and offer Chantelle a shot at redemption?

And, win, lose, or draw, where does all this leave Amanda Serrano, who we now know will make the first defense of her undisputed featherweight championship in a rematch with Heather ‘The Heat’ Hardy on August 5 in Dallas, Texas? Can the Puerto Rican sensation still contractually claim dibs on Katie Taylor after May 20, taking for granted she first beats Hardy a second time?  

In another tantalizing matchup, Terri Harper and Cecilia Braekhus were extended a joint invitation to Taylor’s homecoming. Harper will be defending her WBA super-welterweight title, which she claimed from then-champion Hannah Rankin last September. She has jumped up four divisions since surrendering her WBC and IBO super-featherweight straps to now-undisputed titleholder Alycia Baumgardner via fourth-round TKO.

Harper originally tried in vain to secure an undisputed showdown versus her old super-featherweight rival and current WBC/WBO/IBF 154-pound belt holder Natasha Jonas for May 20. Jonas was also offered the Claressa Shields fight in Detroit on June 3, but allegedly priced herself out of that opportunity as well.

For Braekhus, this will be only her second fight since losing a bid to reclaim her welterweight crown from Jessica McCaskill in 2021 following an eleven-year reign. Braekhus spent six of those years as undisputed champion, the first female in the four-belt era to have earned that distinction. Her last outing was a six-rounder in which Cecilia outpointed Marisa Joana Portillo this past December.

Highly-touted flyweight prospect and new Matchroom contractee Maisey Rose Courtney will also be featured on the Dublin bill, squaring off against 3-1 Kate Radomska in a six-round prelim. This may only be Maisey’s third pro bout but it’s her second appearance on a Katie Taylor undercard which is a big deal for Courtney, who made her debut in the paid ranks by outpointing Judit Hachbold last October 29 with Taylor as the Wembley Arena headliner. 

“I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home. They must be sought abroad,” wrote James Joyce in his short story collection Dubliners.

The same sentiments apply to the boxer born in Bray in County Wicklow but who has lived and trained in Connecticut since turning pro seven years ago. By the necessity of her chosen trade, she has traveled the world for two decades amassing trophies, medals, and championship belts by the dozen in front of capacity crowds swarming with her legions of swooning devotees.

On May 20, her adventures bring her full circle. Back to where her journey began. Ireland. Home to poets, saints, and madmen. And Katie Taylor.