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Conor Benn tops a DAZN card in Liverpool this weekend, but there is a sizable title fight in the penultimate bout of the evening. Katie Taylor puts her undisputed lightweight championship on the line against mandatory challenge Firuza Sharipova.
The main card gets underway at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 11. The main event ring walks featuring Benn and Algieri are expected sometime in the 5 p.m. hour. That means we can expect Taylor’s bout with Sharipova to get started in the 4 p.m. hour.
Taylor comes into the bout as a huge favorite to win at DraftKings Sportsbook, installed at -2500 to Sharipova’s +1000. Total rounds is installed at 8.5 with the over priced to -380. The two fighters have fought 34 total bouts across their respective careers and 14 have ended earlier than a decision. The favored winning method is Taylor by decision at -285. A Taylor KO, TKO, or DQ can be had for +240.
Taylor has all but cleaned out the lightweight division. She is 19-0 and her last four fights were against top five contenders in the division. Most recently, she defeated fifth ranked Jennifer Han via unanimous decision in September. Prior to that she secured unanimous decisions over fouth-ranked Natasha Jonas in May, third-ranked Miriam Gutiérrez in November 2020, and No. 1 ranked Delfine Persoon the prior August. The last remaining contender is Estelle Mossely, who she has notably fought four times as an amateur. Taylor won the first three bouts, but Mossely claimed their last bout in 2016 via split decision.
Sharipova is 14-1 and fighting for her first major title. She has fought twice this year, defeating Liubov Beliakova via second-round TKO in September and Yuliya Chernoborodova via fourth-round TKO in April. Her last title fight came in August 2020 when she beat Happy Daudi via fifth-round TKO to claim the vacant IBA junior welterweight title.
Full Card for Katie Taylor vs. Firuza Sharipova
- Main event: Conor Benn vs. Chris Algieri, 10 rounds, for Benn’s WBA Continental welterweight title
- Co-feature: Katie Taylor vs. Firuza Sharipova, 10 rounds, for Taylor’s WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF women’s lightweight titles
- Robbie Davies Jr. vs. Henry Lundy, 10 rounds, for vacant WBA Continental junior welterweight title
- Joe Cordina vs. Miko Khatchatryan, 10 rounds, for WBA junior lightweight title
- Caoimhin Agyarko vs. Noe Larios Jr., 10 rounds, for WBA International middleweight title
- Alan Isaias Luques Castillo vs. Jordan Gill, 12 rounds, featherweights
- Peter McGrail vs. Engel Gomez, featherweight
- Paddy Lacey vs. Vasif Mamedov, super middleweight
- Calum French vs. Rustem Fatkhullin, junior welterweight