Katie Taylor has dismissed concerns that her Nov. 14 defence of her undisputed lightweight championship vs. Miriam Gutierrez comes too soon after her last fight, going as far as to say she thinks it has even been too long since she last competed.
Taylor headlines a historic triple-header of women's world title fights all on the same bill, in what will be the first time such an occurence has taken place in boxing, at the SSE Arena situated a stone's throw away from Wembley Stadium.
Gutierrez (13-0, 5 KOs) of Spain is the mandatory challenger to the belts currently held by the Irishwoman, who last saw action in a thrilling return bout with Belgium's Delfine Persoon at Matchroom Fight Camp in August.
In the first Taylor vs. Persoon showdown in 2019 at Madison Square Garden, the champion took a majority decision in a fight many onlookers felt went the way of the challenger.
And Taylor told DAZN's Chris Mannix that after she earned a more convincing victory in the second bout, squeezing in one more fight this year was always the plan.
"I just wanted to get another fight in before Christmas," she explained via video call. "I don’t think I took too many heavy shots in the first fight so this seemed like a good time to take this fight.
"I’d fight every month if I could. It definitely is a quick turnover, but I’m ready.
The Persoon rematch was once again close, but this time around there was a marked improvement in the defending titleholder's own offering and the case for scoring her the winner over 12 rounds was far more compelling.
All three ringside judges behind closed doors at Matchroom's Brentwood HQ agreed, ruling Taylor the winner via unanimous decision this time around. Persoon herself also conceded that the better fighter won after heavily questioning the MSG scores.
"I definitely felt the second fight was a more convincing win," continued Taylor. "The first one was very, very close and a lot of people thought she won so it was a bit controversial.
"It was never going to be easy against Delfine. She’s very good and very awkward but I came out of the second fight pretty unscathed.
"I hated the fact a lot of people thought she won the first fight. People called it robbery and I thought it was a bit unfair. I knew straight away there was going to be a rematch and I was looking forward to the rematch all along."
Perhaps Taylor would have come closer to her ideal scenario of fighting on a monthly basis, if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Live boxing was brought to its knees from March until July, with Taylor's promoter Eddie Hearn not returning to staging shows until early August.
Nonetheless, for a quiet workaholic such as Taylor, the lockdown actually provided a great opportunity to really knuckle down and focus on her training.
"I’ve used the pandemic to get stronger and improve a few things," she added. "It’s been a frustrating year for a lot of people, but things didn’t change too much for me.
"The gym was closed for a number of weeks, but I have a garage gym at home that I can use to keep fit.
"I'm not really a party girl type, so it worked out for me."I’ve had some great spars the last few months, some great fighters made themselves available, so I’m very grateful for that."
Providing chief support to Taylor vs. Gutierrez are Terri Harper's defence of the WBC super-featherweight title against Katharina Thanderz and Rachel Ball's attempt to pick up the vacant WBA bantamweight belt vs. Jorgelina Guanini.
The sheer fact that the top three fights of Saturday's card will all be for women's world championships leaves Taylor feeling immensely proud of the sport's growth since 2016.
"I think the journey has been even more than I could have expected," she said. "Here we are, headlining a show with a triple header of female world title fights. It’s incredible.
"I never thought we’d see that when I turned pro four years ago. Hopefully it will continue."