Katie Taylor looking forward to fighting Yana Alekseevna in opponent's backyard

Ireland's Katie Taylor has said that she is relishing fighting Yana Alekseevna in the Azerbaijani's home country.

The lightweight fighter beat Sweden's Ida Lundblad by a unanimous points decision to reach the semi-final and now wants to go all the way.

"I'm not settling for a bronze medal," Taylor told reporters after the fight. "I always come into these competitions hoping for a gold medal so I won't really relax until I have a gold medal around my neck.

"I boxed [Alekseevna] in the finals of the World Championships last year and a few months ago. It was a very, very close contest then and I expect it to be another close one. She's very clever and, as I said, these are the kind of fights that I love to box, such a big fight against the home nation. I'm really looking forward to it.

"I've boxed many people in their own backyard plenty of times, in China I boxed a Chinese girl in the final of the World Championships and I've boxed Russians before in their home nation as well. I'm going to enjoy it, the atmosphere is going to be fantastic. It's going to be such a tough contest, but these are the kind of fights that I cherish."

Alekseevna, 27, beat Russian Zinaida Dobrynina by a unanimous points decision to reach Friday's semi-final.