Linardatou vs Taylor: Katie Taylor on her way to becoming all-time icon but danger lurks

The brilliant Katie Taylor is drenched in gold but the further down the rabbit hole she goes, the more dangerous things will become and the likelier than her perfect career is dealt an unexpected blow.

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The darling of Irish sport is well on her way to immortality as a trail-blazer for women's boxing and has more championships that she knows what to do with. It is, therefore, a credit to her thirst that she moves into a heavier weight division tonight to challenge for Christina Linardatou's super-lightweight title, live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm.

It is not so much a roll of the dice; more so the natural next step for a boxer who has conquered everything that has previously been put before her. Five amateur world titles, Olympic 2012 gold, 14 unbeaten pro fights of which eight have been for a world title. Her most recent victory over Delfine Persoon, who was also a world champion, made Taylor the undisputed lightweight title-holder.

But can she keep sweeping away every opponent put before her?

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Taylor may not seem it but she is human, now 33, with 20 years of training behind her. She doesn't coast through easy exhibition fights, her love of a battle insists upon that. The burden of expectation has weighed heavy on her shoulders since the championships first started rolling in and, barring a blip at the 2016 Olympics when she was the reigning champion, she has kept winning and winning.

But vulnerabilities crept in against Persoon in June, a policewoman who skipped her father's birthday and fought Taylor like the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it was. Taylor won a majority decision to claim every belt in the lightweight division and Persoon, disgusted by the judging, stormed out of the ring.

It was definitely the hardest fight of Taylor's career, one in which her skill was not enough to keep a bigger and stronger opponent at bay. She had to dig into her reserves of willpower, and those type of fights can take something out of a fighter.

Linardatou, from Greece, expects to be more powerful than Taylor.

"She has been training in the mountains. She hasn't been in touch with any humans," was the odd proclamation from Linardatou's manager Brian Cohen. Taylor was also warned that her opponent was so tough that she removed an injured rib and ate it with hot sauce.

Taylor insists that being smaller will not stop her: "I'm in against bigger and stronger girls but I've done hundreds and hundreds of rounds of sparring over the past few years, and lots of strength and conditioning."

Promoter Eddie Hearn knows that the challenges are getting harder: "Katie is coming up to 140lbs but, the truth is, this is not her weight class."

Linardatou has told her to expect a "cat and mouse" fight - make no mistake, the implication was that Taylor is the mouse.

Next year should be the period when Taylor engages in legacy-defining fights, the women's equivalent to the holy grail of Joshua-Fury-Wilder type occasions.

"I want to move up in weight and become a multiple-weight undisputed champion," she told Sky Sports earlier this year. "That's history, right there!"

She is acutely aware of a need for a rival who helps to push her onto a new level.

"The obvious one is Amanda Serrano," she said of the seven-weight world champion from New York. Serrano has owned a belt in the division that Taylor joins tonight.

Norway's Cecilia Braekhus has won all 35 of her fights and, like Taylor, is an undisputed champion but as a welterweight (seven pounds above Taylor).

"It would have to be a catchweight," said Hearn, who represents Braekhus too which must act as a carrot under the nose of Taylor tonight.

But first, the smaller matter of winning a new belt in a new division. The assumption is that Taylor will always win but these challenges are genuine, the opponents in front of her are hungry and eager.

Andy Clarke's verdict

For Taylor's career to keep expanding it's important she becomes a two-weight champion. To be able to beat Braekhus, and that fight is surely going to be made next year, then she'll have to step slightly above super-lightweight, to 141lbs at least, if Braekhus' welterweight titles are to be on the line.

Katie's been at 60kg as an amateur (132lbs) and 135lbs as a pro for the last 15 years so although stepping up 5lbs to 140lbs might not sound like a lot, it could be significant. So if Taylor's not a full-blown super-lightweight then it's not that big a problem because nor is Linardatou, who weighed just 137lbs when she won the title in March and who was boxing at super-featherweight just last year.

But we can't dismiss Linardatou, so what of the champion? She's much-travelled, having boxed as a pro in the Dominican Republic, UK, Belgium, Germany and USA with her only defeat coming on points over 10 rounds in June 2016 when she challenged Delfine Persoon for her WBC lightweight title. She started life as a kickboxer and stylistically she's an aggressive front-foot fighter who looks to get int range and throwing hooks and some short straight punches. She quite often transfers to a southpaw stance, pivots into it really, and leads off with a right hook. She looks like she can punch.

Live on Sky Sports on Saturday evening from Manchester, Katie Taylor aims to become a two-weight world champion against Christina Linardatou and Anthony Crolla fights for the last time before retiring.

Then we head straight to Vegas for Kovalev vs Canelo.