She has defeated more than 100 opponents in a 14-year career that has elevated her to the pinnacle of her sport. But for Katie Taylor, the shy, softly-spoken boxer who represents Ireland’s best medal prospects at the 2012 Olympics, the biggest fight of all did not involve right jabs and upper-cuts.
Taylor (25) was instrumental in getting female boxing into the London Olympics, a protracted battle that involved persuading first the Irish boxing authorities to legalise female bouts and then the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take the sport seriously. Taylor took part in showcase fights in front of IOC officials in Russia and the United States and tried to convince them that women had a right to fight in the 2012 Games.
“It’s been a huge struggle getting female boxing accepted as an Olympic sport,” Taylor said, amid punchbags, medicine balls and posters of the Irish greats such as Barry McGuigan at the Bray Boxing Club, a converted boat-house overlooking the harbour of the County Wicklow town.
“Every single female boxer in the world has been fighting hard over the last few years to get our sport accepted and when the final decision was made, it was a huge relief.
“The Olympics is the biggest competition in the world and for every amateur boxer, it’s a dream to go to the Olympics. That is no different for female [boxers].”
Taylor says she and fellow female boxers were deeply disappointed that they were unable to box at the Beijing Games. They went on a public-relations offensive, staging bouts to show just how compelling the sport could be. Taylor travelled to St Petersburg and Chicago to show off her boxing talents.
“That was to show how great women’s boxing was. It was a sales pitch in front of the Olympic committee,” she says.
“Those bouts were a huge help as they saw the standard of women’s boxing at its best.”
Endorsing the sport
Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) president, Ching-Kuo Wu, has said that without Taylor, women would not be boxing in the London Games next year. The AIBA adopted her as the sport’s poster athlete in its battle to get the IOC to endorse the sport.
A devout Christian and teetotaller, Taylor took up boxing almost by mistake. The sport, she says, is “in the blood”, given that her father and trainer, Peter Taylor, was an Irish champion at light-heavyweight level in 1986 and her two brothers also boxed at the Bray club.
“I was in the local running club and [one] night training was cancelled because of heavy rain so instead, I went down to the [boxing] club and started training with the lads. I was already interested in boxing because of my dad and also because I used to mess about with my brothers — they would get me to put their boxing gloves on in the house and spar with them.”
Peter Taylor is protective of his daughter, who has become a national hero for women and girls in Irish sport. It took him four years to persuade the Irish boxing authorities to allow women into the ring before she fought her first official bout.
“Before Katie came along, no one was interested in female boxing as it was legalised everywhere else except here in Ireland. As for the Olympics, we are always confident every time she goes into the ring but you never know — you might have a bad day, you might get injured, but here’s hoping,” he says.
The years of training, sparring and bouts have left few scars on Taylor.
She says she has never worried about the potential dangers of the sport. “You are wearing the headgear, you have doctors around the ring, and if you are taking too much punishment the referee stops the fight. You don’t see many knockouts in amateur boxing as it’s all about speed and points.”
Although she is three times world champion in her division and four times champion in Europe, Taylor will have to fight almost up to the wire to represent Ireland in the Olympics. She will take part in the next world championships in May, which are the qualifiers for the Games.
In Bray, there is widespread faith that its most famous daughter will bring back gold. In honour of her third European championship a local hotel has erected a banner with her photograph and the words “Well done Katie” emblazoned on it, overlooking the Irish Sea.
Her success has inspired others to follow her into the ring. Half of the 60 boxers who train at her club are female, she says. “It’s great that they don’t have to struggle as we did.” —