Katie Taylor Part One: Trendsetter

 Katie Taylor 

Not many boxers, if any, get to leave boxing on their own terms the way Katie Taylor did in front of 83,000 fans at Dublin’s Croke Park, when she outpointed France's Flora Pili 98-91, and two cards of 100-90 to win the vacant WBC lightweight title and retire as a three-time undisputed champion. It was an emotional and historic night, a far cry from her ten-year-old self, who had to dress up as a boy to compete in a boxing match.

Born on 2nd July 1986 to parents Peter and Bridget, Katie was the youngest of siblings Sarah, Lee and Peter. They grew up in a tight-knit family in a small house in the working-class area of Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. The community at the time faced socioeconomic challenges which included a heroin epidemic during the late 1980s and 1990s. Despite this, her parents encouraged their children to get heavily involved in sports, which sheltered them from trouble and established a deep love for athletics.

Taylor excelled in a wide range of sporting disciplines before focusing on boxing. Football was her first love, she recalls spending nearly every day outside kicking the ball around with the other local children, and started playing for a team around the age of eight. She was extremely competitive and played alongside boys as there were few opportunities for girls at the time. She was good enough to represent Wicklow at under-age level and was named Wicklow under-13 schoolboy player of the year. She would later participate in Gaelic football and Camogie - an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by over 100,000 women in Ireland - and represented the Republic of Ireland football team at Under-17, Under-19 and senior international level, scoring two goals.

Boxing, though, was in the family and never far away from her thoughts, and at a young age she dreamed of becoming an Olympic boxing champion - the problem was women’s boxing was not yet an Olympic sport. Her father competed for ten years as an amateur, becoming the Irish National Senior light-heavyweight champion. He never turned pro, choosing to transition his skills into high-performance coaching and pass on his expertise to his children.

In a 2009 interview with RTÉ, she recalled being fascinated by watching her father when she was only six or seven. She would later say she would mess around at home wearing boxing gloves with her father and two brothers. Her father was involved with the St Fergal’s Boxing Club in Bray, and by the time she entered there as a ten-year-old, she instinctively knew how to throw punches, taking to the sport immediately.

Women’s boxing in Ireland was not a recognised sport, and for her to be able to compete, she had to disguise herself as a boy and enter tournaments as K Taylor. Her father recalls that she was still boxing boys at the age of fifteen and reportedly she comfortably defeated an Irish schoolboy champion. Still, women’s boxing was not recognised.

On 31st October 2001, aged fifteen, things began to change. Katie Taylor was not just a very talented girl training at a local boxing club, she took part in Ireland’s first sanctioned female boxing contest, when she faced Alanna Nihell, then known as Alanna Audley, outpointing her over three rounds.

Taylor had a very decorated amateur career at 60 Kg (132.28 pounds); in 2005 she competed in Podolsk, Russia, in the Amateur International Boxing Association World Championships, losing a 28-13 decision to North Korean Kang Kum Hui in the second round match. The following year in New Delhi, she won gold at the AIBA World Championships, outpointing Argentina’s Erica Anabella Farias.

She captured the gold medal once more in Ningbo City, China, winning a 13-2 decision over local fighter Dong Cheng in 2008. More World Championship success arrived in 2010 when she travelled to Bridgetown, Barbados, meeting Cheng again in the final, winning an 18-5 decision. She also won the AIBA World Female Boxer of the Year award.

The 2012 World Championships were held again in China, with Taylor becoming a four-time world AIBA champion with an 11-7 decision over Russia’s Sofya Ochigava in the city of Qinhuagdao. 

She then got the chance to realise her girlhood dream of competing in the Olympics, when she travelled to the London Games. After a first-round bye, she defeated Britain’s Natasha Jonas 26-15 to progress to the semifinal, outscoring Tajikistan’s Mavuna Choreva 17-9.

The Olympic final was a repeat of that year’s World Championships, when she clinched the Gold medal with a 10-8 decision over Sofya Ochigava. Her achievements also brought recognition from the People of the Year Awards and RTÉ, winning Sportsperson of the Year.

2014 brought her final success as world champion, winning gold in Jeju City, South Korea with a 3-0 decision over Azerbaijan’s Yana Alekseeva. She also picked up that year’s Sportswoman of the Year Award from the Irish Times/Irish Sports Council.

In 2016, she lost her semifinal match 2-1 in the AIBA World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, against Frenchwoman and eventual gold medalist Estelle Mossely. Taylor went to Rio de Janeiro as defending Olympic champion, crashing out of the Games after a 2-1 decision defeat to Finland’s Mira Potkonen, finishing her unpaid resume 170-10-1 (35 KOs).

After the 2016 Olympics, she teamed up with professional boxing trainer Ross Enamait of Connecticut, USA and joined Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom promotional outfit. She turned professional, aged thirty, on 26th November 2016, stopping Poland’s Karina Szmalenberg in the third round at London’s Wembley Arena.

Taylor featured on a big card in her second professional outing, flooring and outpointing Brazil’s Viviane Obenauf, on the heavyweight double-header of Dillian Whyte vs Derek Chisora and Anthony Joshua defending his IBF heavyweight title against Alfred Molina on 10th December 2016.

Her third outing was a fifth-round TKO against Italy’s Monica Gentili, again featuring on the first massive grudge match between David Haye and Tony Bellew on 4th March 2017 at London’s O2 Arena. Three weeks later she appeared on another stacked card in Manchester, where she outpointed the Bulgarian Milena Koleva over eight rounds.

There was even more exposure for her as fight number five took place on the Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko fight at Wembley Stadium in April 2017, where she faced Germany’s Nina Meinke for the vacant World Boxing Association International female lightweight title. The contest was stopped in the seventh round due to the German fighter suffering a cut over her left eye, with Taylor winning her first of many professional titles.

Taylor’s first full world title opportunity came on another Anthony Joshua card when he successfully defended his world heavyweight title against Carlos Takam at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. Argentina’s Anahi Esther Sanchez was defending her WBA lightweight title, however, as she failed to make weight, the governing body subsequently stripped her of the championship, meaning Taylor had the opportunity for the vacant title.

The Argentinian was dropped by a left hook to the body, as Taylor dominated the contest 99-90 on all three judges’ cards to become the new world champion, improving her record to 7-0 (4 KOs).

Two months later she topped the bill at the iconic York Hall at London’s Bethnal Green, when she faced American Jessica McCaskill in the maiden defence of her WBA title. It was the first time ever that a women’s world championship contest had headlined on a major night of boxing in the United Kingdom.

McCaskill, 5-1 (3 KOs), was a crafty operator and managed to wobble the defending champion in the sixth round. However, Taylor was in control of the contest, outboxing her challenger for long spells, and despite being docked a point in round seven for holding, ran out a points winner 98-91 and two cards of 97-92. "It was probably the toughest fight of my career," Taylor said afterwards. 

"I would love to have a home fight in Dublin and unify the division," she added.

"I want to make history in this sport. This is the perfect end to a perfect year."

All the best fight fans

Lea

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