Katie Taylor Vs. Karen Carabajal: Odds, Records, Prediction

In the last few weeks, the boxing world has been focused on some of the best women’s fighters in the sport, including Claressa Shields’ fantastic win vs. Savannah Marshall, Alycia Baumgardner’s breakthrough victory vs. Mikaela Mayer and Seniesa Estrada’s return to the ring next month. And though Katie Taylor has flown a little under the radar this week, her return to the ring is also cause for excitement—even if her opponent, Karen Carabajal, is a massive underdog. Here’s everything you need to know about Katie Taylor vs. Karen Carabajal, including the odds, their records and a prediction on who will win.

Six months ago, Taylor scored the biggest win of her career when she outpointed Amanda Serrano in one of the most important female fights ever. While her fight Saturday vs. Carabajal hasn’t caused nearly as much excitement and chaos, it’s still an important moment for Taylor as she seeks to defend her undisputed lightweight championship.

“Every fight at this stage is a big fight,” Taylor said. “There is no such thing as an easy fight at this stage of my career . . . I don’t find it difficult at all to motivate myself, to be quite honest. I understand the challenges ahead of me. Like I said, there are no such things as easy fights. She has everything to gain in this fight, nothing to lose. These fighters are always very dangerous.”

Carabajal is undefeated, but she’s never fought outside of her native Argentina. A win vs. Taylor would be a massive upset, but she and her team have faith.

“The hard work has paid off,” Carabajal said. “I’m not thinking for a second about giving Katie a win. All the belts with come back to Argentina with me.”

Said Marcos Maidana, her promoter and a former two-division world titlist: “We will travel to London with our undefeated warrior and we will shock the boxing world. Katie Taylor will be amazed.”

Chances are, that’s not going to happen. But if Carabajal can give Taylor some good work (after all, Taylor and Amanda Serrano will likely meet in a rematch of their classic fight sometime in 2023) and maybe win a few rounds, that will probably have to be good enough.

Here’s more info on the Katie Taylor vs. Karen Carabajal showdown that U.S. viewers can watch Saturday on DAZN beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

Katie Taylor vs. Karen Carabajal odds

Should you even be betting on this fight? Well, Taylor is a -2500 favorite (bet $2,500 to win $100), and Carabajal is the +1000 underdog. For me to think about wagering on Carabajal, it’d really have to be like +2500, and even then, I doubt I’d do it. If you really think Taylor can win by stoppage even though her KO percentage is only 29%, that +250 prop bet is a decent value. Otherwise, you can always sit out this fight.

Katie Taylor vs. Karen Carabajal records

At 21-0 with 6 KOs, Taylor is one of the two best boxers in the world. Shields is coming off an extraordinary victory against a top-notch opponent, so no matter how good Taylor looks on Saturday, she won’t match that. But if her resume of beating Serrano, Jessica McCaskill and Delfine Persoon is any indication, she shouldn’t have any problem with Carabajal.

Carabajal (19-0, 2 KOs) has never fought somebody like Taylor. In her last fight, Carabajal beat a boxer with a record of 2-0-2. Before that, her opponent was 10-8. The two opponents before that had a combined record of 9-11-4. It’s not easy to predict that Carabajal is going to be overwhelmed by Taylor’s skills.

Katie Taylor vs. Karen Carabajal prediction

Taylor hasn’t scored a stoppage since 2019. But Carabajal could be ripe for a KO. She has no experience at boxing’s elite level, and Taylor, though she doesn’t have one-punch power, could swarm her with enough pressure and volume to force the stoppage. Say Taylor by TKO in the seventh round.