Katie Taylor insists that she never considered retiring after her 3Arena loss to Chantelle Cameron - and claims that she has "a lot of fights" left in her.
Taylor, 37, says that she "wasn't at her best" entering the ring for her May 20 homecoming, with Cameron comfortably thwarting the Bray boxer's ambition to be a two-weight world champion. The rematch takes place on Saturday, November 25 at the same venue and will again be a 140lb super lightweight bout.
Taylor said it is a "must-win" fight for her but also stressed that she is in a much better place now than she was in May, although she would not go into detail on why that is the case. She said: “The preparation has been a lot different," she remarked. "I feel a lot better going into this fight. I feel in top form right now.
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"I don't want to really expand on it, I just didn't feel myself going into the last fight. It was just a flat performance. I was good enough to step into the ring on the night, I just fell that bit short.
“Mentally and physically I feel a lot better for this one, that's obviously a big deal. I'm not thinking that this fight is going to be my last fight and I'm not thinking of any other outcome other than a win. So any other outcome for me isn't even entering my mind.
"I feel very fresh, feel very good in the gym right now. I know I have a lot of fights left in me. But I will obviously retire at the right time, when I feel it's right.
"You guys can make your own opinion on that as well, when you see me on November 25th. But right now, I feel good and I have no intentions of hanging up the gloves right now.
"Obviously, I can’t do this forever but retirement never came into my mindset the last time. I have to perform well on November 25th. Like I said, this is a must-win fight for me, but I don’t think it is ever good for any fighter to be thinking of retirement going into a fight.
"I guess you can always make that decision after a fight maybe but right now, it is not a good time to be thinking of retirement a couple of weeks before the biggest fight of your career." Taylor maintains that she has bounced back from what was the first defeat of a glittering pro career having quickly acknowledged to herself that Cameron deserved a famous victory.
"The last fight doesn't consume me," stated Taylor. "Certainly it would be one of the best wins of my career. The next fight is always the most important fight but this one definitely feels a must-win fight for me.
"I’m definitely looking forward to just (getting) revenge and putting things right. The disappointing part was the actual loss itself and that's not how I wanted my homecoming to go.
"A lot of people, I think, are doubting me as well. I love these fights when people are actually doubting me. I think this could be one of the greatest nights of my career.
"I'm aware of what's at stake here."
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