Fury reserved high praise for the current lightweight champion
Tyson Fury has heaped praise on lightweight champion Katie Taylor ahead of her upcoming fight against Firuza Sharipova this weekend.
Taylor is looking to continue her unbeaten professional record – which stands at 20-0 – in Liverpool, with the former Olympic champion a heavy favourite to win against her Kazakhstani opponent.
And the 35-year-old’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed, receiving praise from some influential names in boxing, including the ‘Gypsy King.’
As per the Irish Mirror, the recent WBC heavyweight champion took to his Instagram on Wednesday afternoon, sharing an image of Taylor, captioning it with: “She is the immortal of boxing. Get up there my girl @katie_t86.”
The Bray-born boxer seems in confident spirits herself and insists it isn’t hard to get motivated for the big fights as she prepares for her mandatory fight against Sharipova.
“I just love staying sharp, really,” Taylor said.
“You can do all the sparring in the world, but nothing is ever the same as actually stepping into the ring and actually fighting.
“I’ve never, ever found it hard to actually get up and keep myself motivated for these mandatories. I do understand that these girls are coming for all my belts and we’re going to see the best of these opponents every time they step into the ring with me.
“You see it all the time in boxing where fighters have a flat performance and they fail to hold onto their belts. So, I can never, ever get complacent. I’m so aware of that.”
Meanwhile, Taylor’s opponent believes she is capable of ending her unbeaten record and has used advice from Sofya Ochigava who beat the Irish fighter in the gold medal match at the 2012 London Olympics.
She said: “No one else knows how to fight Taylor like Sofya Ochigava. Therefore, not only I, Firuza Sharipova, will be in the ring against Taylor, but the intelligence of Sofya Ochigava, who has prepared me very well for this fight, will be with me.
“Sofya has been in my camp from the very beginning, has passed on all her knowledge to me and has done her best to help me defeat Katie Taylor.
“I watched their fight in the final of the Olympic Games and I’m sure that the judges helped Taylor. Sofya knocked her down, which wasn’t counted. Sofya was better in the fight, she won it.
“Taylor is usually not afraid of anyone, but in that final fight, Sophia saw fear in her eyes. Even now, Taylor refuses to fight Sofya.”
Taylor’s fight against Sharipova can be seen live on DAZN on Saturday 11 December as part of a main card double bill which will also see Conor Benn fight Chris Algieri.
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