'The fighting pride of the entire Irish nation' as she was introduced to the Manchester crowd, Katie Taylor produced a professional career-best performance as she eased to a shut-out victory over Milena Koleva.
The amateur boxing legend oozed class as she outboxed and outworked her Bulgarian opponent, who fought for a world title in her last outing. Referee Howard Foster scored the contest 80-72, or eight rounds to zilch in Taylor's favour.
After six rounds of explosive flurries and the occasional reducer off either side, Taylor troubled her opponent in the sixth before knocking her down in the penultimate round with a flash right hand over the top. An exhausted Koleva seemed on the brink as Taylor hunted a stoppage, but deserves credit for braving out the final stanza despite looking like she could barely move.
Taylor looked confident. She looked happy. She looked ready.
She moves to 4-0 as a professional with two stoppages, and told Sky Sports that she's eyeing an assault on the world title scene two or three bouts down the line.
Next up might well be Wembley Stadium on the undercard of Anthony Joshua's IBF World heavyweight title showdown with Wladimir Klitschko.
More to follow.
