Katie Taylor has revealed the biggest defeat of her life was the catalyst that launched her professional career - and without it she wouldn't be headlining Madison Square Garden tonight.
The Bray fighter defends her lightweight belts against Amanda Serrano at the Mecca of boxing, with over 20,000 fans expected to be in attendance, but it could have been a much different story for Ireland's golden girl.
Four years after winning gold at the London Olympics, Taylor suffered a shock loss to Finland’s Mira Potkonen at the 2016 Games in Rio.
The defeat came just months after she split from her father Pete, who had coached her to that gold medal success, but Taylor admits it was the disappointment of the loss that pushed her to where she is today.
The undisputed champion explained: "I definitely would not be here now if I had won gold in Rio.
"It's amazing how it all turned out really. I think my biggest disappointment in Rio has turned out to be the springboard to my greatest comeback and that's an amazing thing.
"The huge setback that I had has put me in this position and I never really thought that I would be in this position to be headlining Madison Square Garden.
"I really am proud [to have turned it around]. To experience both in the Olympic games - the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. I'm definitely very grateful that I'm in this position right now and that I was able to come back from that huge disappointment."
A win for Taylor tonight would arguably be the biggest ever in her career and while she finds it hard to compare it to her Olympic success, she has suggested that victory here might just be a bigger achievement.
She said: "When I was coming up to the London Olympics, that was my childhood dream right there and there wasn't a day that went by where I didn't think about that Olympic gold medal as a kid so that was a very special moment and regardless of anything else that happens in my career, I'll always have that Olympic gold medal.
"It's something that I dreamt of. I don't know [how this fight compares].
"This is obviously a mega fight. It's a history-making fight. I think the whole world will be watching . It's an amazing event and this could possibly be the biggest night of my career for sure.
"But it's very hard to compare the two fights."
Taylor has spent a lot of time alongside Serrano in recent months to promote the fight and although she says they haven't exactly sat down and had dinner together, she has found the Puerto Rican, who is the favourite with the bookies to win, a very nice person.
"She seems very respectful and she seems like a great person," said Taylor.
"I have no badness towards her whatsoever. She's just here to fight as well. I don't think she's a trash talker in any way.
"She seems pretty respectful and she's just here for business."
Taylor added: "She's a great fighter, a great champion, she's very skillful, technically very good so I'm aware of the challenge ahead of me and I'm ready to perform."
Both fighters will take home seven-figure paychecks from the historic bout.
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