By Elliot Foster
Katie Taylor is set to come back next month.
The 31-year-old Bray woman has been out of action since April.
Taylor unified the female lightweight division in New York when she outpointed Victoria Noelia Bustos to add the IBF belt to her WBA crown. She outpointed the Argentine at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, exclusively live on Sky Sports in the UK, and told Boxing Scene recently that she would be back in July.
The understanding is that, on Monday, she will be named among the supporting cast to Dillian Whyte's heavyweight clash against Joseph Parker.
The pair meet at the O2 Arena on July 28, exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office, and the former five-time world amateur champion and six-time European amateur champion is set to be added to the card.
“The next fight is going to be in July sometime and we’re hoping that the WBO champion [Rose Volante] will fight, but there’s nothing set in stone and we’ll see what happens,” she told Boxing Scene a week after beating Bustos. “The next fight is going to be in England and then we’re hoping to get back to the States before the end of the year.”
It is unclear at this stage whether Taylor will face WBO titlist Volante in just over six weeks' time because it is thought that rather than unifying the division in her next fight she will instead take on her mandatory challenger.
The name of that mandatory challenger is Ikram Kerwat. The German-based Tunisian is 34 and has had 10 fights.
She's 9-1 with five early finishes, is a former WBC International female lightweight champion and was last in action in February when she outpointed Angel Gladney on three scorecards at the Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida.
What is clear, however, is that with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing USA's new deal with Perform Group and DAZN, there is ample opportunity for fighters to showcase their talents Stateside.
Taylor is said to have been earmarked as a name who will feature on the company's first US card, potentially on September 22 in New York, alongside Olympic bronze medallist Joshua Buatsi.
The Whyte-Parker undercard will be firmed up on Monday, but what we do know is that it is likely to feature Kell Brook in his next fight as well as Kazakh Olympic gold medallist Daniyar Yeleussinov.
The aforementioned Buatsi is set for a berth on the bill, while action is expected to be afforded to Conor Benn and others.
