It’s not a dream fight in Ireland, but Katie Taylor can embrace this weekend as a different kind of homecoming.

The two-division champ and reigning undisputed lightweight queen is set for her fourteenth overall defense of at least one lightweight title as she faces Argentina’s Karen Elizabeth Carabajal. Both boxers made weight for their scheduled ten-round championship fight, which headlines a Matchroom Boxing-promoted DAZN show from OVO Arena Wembley in London.

Taylor (21-0, 6KOs) weighed 134.6 pounds as she enters her sixteenth career title fight while returning to the site of her pro debut. She has held at least one lightweight belt since October 2017 and has reigned as the undisputed lightweight champ since June 2019.

Buenos Aires’ Carabajal (19-0, 2KOs) was 134.2 pounds for her first career title fight as well as her first pro trip outside of Argentina.

Taylor enters Saturday on the heels of her ten-round, split decision win over seven-division champ and fellow pound-for-pound entrant Amanda Serrano (43-2-1, 30KOs) in their April 30 instant classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 36-year-young champion from Bray, Ireland survived a hellacious fifth round and a late surge by Serrano to prevail on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

The event took place in front of a sold-out MSG, with flags of Ireland and Puerto Rico flown throughout the iconic venue. Ticket sales were north of $1,400,000 and the telecast drawing a reported 1,500,000 viewers across DAZN platforms worldwide.

Saturday’s headliner will come with a significantly different kind of energy, though with room for nostalgia. The event takes place in lieu of a sought rematch with Serrano, as there was preliminary discussion of the fight taking place at Croke Park in Dublin which would have marked Taylor’s first-ever pro fight in her home country.

Instead, Taylor returns to the venue where she proudly made her pro debut in November 2016. Saturday will mark her third overall appearance at this site, the previous occasion coming in a November 2020 points win over then-unbeaten Miriam Gutierrez behind closed doors due to Covid and social distancing restrictions at the time.

The co-feature pits featherweight hopeful Jordan Gill against former two-division titlist Kiko Martinez in a scheduled 12-round bout for the EBU European featherweight title.

Chatteris, Cambridgeshire’s Gill (27-1-1, 8KOs) was 125.8 pounds in his first fight since his breathtaking, off-the-canvas, ninth-round knockout of Karim Guerfi on February 27 at The O2 In London. Gill was floored in round seven and trailing on all three scorecards when he flattened Guerfi late in the ninth round of a Knockout of the Year contender.

Martinez (43-11-2, 30KOs) was 124.8 pounds as he hopes to enjoy one last title run. The 36-year-old Spaniard is coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to Josh Warrington which ended his brief IBF featherweight title reign on March 26 on the road in Leeds. Martinez won the title with a come-from-behind, sixth-round knockout of Kid Galahad last November 13 in Sheffield, with Saturday’s bout marking his third straight in the U.K. and fourth in his last five starts.

Remaining main undercard, DAZN, 2:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. BST

Johnny Fisher (6-0, KOs), Romford, London, 233.4 pounds vs. Dominik Musil (7-4, KOs), Znojmo, Czech Republic, 262.7 pounds—6 rounds, heavyweight 

Mary Romero (8-2, 2KOs), Murcia, Spain, 120 ½; pounds vs. Ellie Scotney (5-0, 0KOs), Catford, London, 121 ½ pounds—10 rounds, EBU junior featherweight title

Gary Cully (14-0, 8KOs), Naas, Ireland, 135.8 pounds vs. Jaouad Belmehdi (16-0-3, 7KOs), Beziers, France, 136.3 pounds—10 rounds, lightweight

Mickey Ellison (13-4, 5KOs), Darwen, Lancashire, 174.9 pounds vs. Thomas Whittaker Hart (7-0, 3KOs), Liverpool, 174.8 pounds—10 rounds, light heavyweight

‘Before The Bell’, DAZN/Matchroom YouTube, 11:45 a.m. ET/4:45 p.m. BST

Jordan Reynolds (3-0, 1KO), Luton, Bedfordshire, 163.1 pounds vs. Jose Manuel Lopez (16-18-1, 5KOs), Granada, Spain, 161.3 pounds—6 rounds, middleweight 

John Hedges (6-0, 2KOs), Takeley, Essex, 181.6 pounds vs. Ales Makovec (3-0, 2KOs), Tabor, Czech Republic, 180.2 pounds—6 rounds, light heavyweight

Maisey Rose Courtney (pro debut), London, 113 ½ pounds vs. Judit Hachbold (5-17, 1KO), Kiskoros, Hungary, 111.15 pounds—4 rounds, flyweight

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox