‘She was going to knock me out’ – Eddie Hearn reveals he got on the wrong side of Katie Taylor by suggesting she headline an all-female fight card like Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall

Eddie Hearn has revealed how Katie Taylor feels about all-female fight cards after BOXXER’s recent bill at the O2 Arena in London.

An undisputed middleweight clash between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall topped a historic show that only featured female fighters on October 15.

However, the Matchroom Sports chairman once suggested a similar idea to Taylor who, to his surprise, was not a fan and looked like she wanted to knock him out.

“It was about two years ago and DAZN came to us and said, ‘We’d like to headline Katie Taylor on International Women’s Day with a full female card,” Hearn told talkSPORT Breakfast on Wednesday.

“I was really excited. I thought, ‘Wow, that would be incredible for Katie and the sport. I went and sat down with her, and she looked at me like she was going to knock me out.”

After a lifetime of fighting to compete alongside men, the undisputed lightweight champion explained to Hearn that she has no interest in such an event.

“And she said, ‘I don’t want to box on an all-female card. I want to headline a card. Forget male or female, just because I’m good enough, I’m entertaining enough and because of my achievements,” he added.

“I really took a lot from that. The great thing to take away from women’s boxing is that it is there in its own right. For many, many years it’s been politically correct to make sure that we showcase women’s sports.

“Unfortunately, if it’s not good enough or if it doesn’t have the commercial longevity potential, you’re just going to see it fade away. Now, a lot of women’s sport is there because it is entertaining, it’s commercial and that’s going to give it longevity.”

While Shields vs Marshall was a massive success and was watched by over two million people, Hearn insists it has nothing to do with them being women and everything to do with it being an intriguing match-up.

“No one was thinking I wanna this fight because it’s two females,” he said.

“[They were thinking], ‘I wanna watch this fight because it’s the undisputed champion against a world champion, they’ve got an incredible backstory and there’s a little bit of beef going on as well.’”

Taylor will return to the ring on Saturday to face undefeated Argentine Elizabeth Carabajal in a bout that headlines Hearn’s latest show at Wembley Arena in London.

‘The Bray Bomber’ spoke with talkSPORT earlier today and had nothing but good things to say about Shields and Marshall despite not loving the idea of an all-female boxing card.

“It was just another amazing night for the sport. Claressa and Savannah produced just a great performance. Both of them showed so much heart and grit,” Taylor said.

“It’s those types of fights that really do elevate the sport. Claressa was phenomenal on the night. She was just too fast, too powerful, and just too good. It was just another great night for the sport.

“The two best fights of this year so far were probably myself and [Amanda] Serrano and Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall. Two female fights leading the way. It’s been an amazing year for women’s boxing.”