Katie Taylor started boxing by ACCIDENT then inspired women everywhere by fighting for the right to appear at Olympics
KATIE TAYLOR helped inspire a generation of female fighters – but her own boxing career only started by pure chance.
The Irish icon quite literally fought for women to compete at the Olympics after performing in front of officials in showcase bouts.
Her dad Peter was an Irish light-heavyweight champion and her two brothers Pete and Lee also boxed at the Bray club.
It was only when Taylor’s running training got rained off did she take the chance to wander down to her local St Fergal’s Boxing Club and try it out for herself.
By the time her dad found out, Taylor was already in the ring sparring with the boys in the gym.
Taylor looks back with a wide smile and tells SunSport: “I couldn’t wait to spar, I already had the headgear on.
“I just remember going to the gym and my dad looked around and I was already sparring.
“I always knew how to throw a punch, maybe it was just after years of watching my dad shadow boxing helped but obviously much coaching was needed as well.
“I always had good raw material there and I just couldn’t wait to get in there and fight.
“I think it was always part of who I am, it’s in my blood to be a fighter.”
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Taylor was just 12 when she first started boxing and immediately got the backing of her dad.
Her team even had to pretend she was a boy – pushing her ponytail into her headguard and going by the alias K.Taylor.
Her future was determined from the moment she walked into the gym – maybe accidentally on purpose – and fell in love with everything she found, including the SMELL of the club.
Taylor, who also played football for Ireland’s national team, added: “I don’t think I ever really thought I was ever really going to be a boxer.
“I just always knew how to fight and how to throw a punch, where to put my hands, where to stand.
“I think that was just part of my make-up. But I don’t think my parents or anyone in my family really thought I was ever going to be a fighter.
“But the minute I stepped foot into a boxing ring, that first day, I just fell in love with the sport and fell in love with the boxing gym.
“Just the atmosphere in the gym, seeing the guys in sparring and hitting the bags, I just fell in love with that whole concept.
“That was the start of the journey for me.”
Taylor made history in 2001 at 15 when she boxed Alanna Audley in what was the first officially sanctioned female boxing match in Ireland.
But still a problem lingered for Taylor and so many other girls – there was no room for boxing at the Olympic Games.
In a bid to change the landscape of the sport forever, Taylor was selected to box in front of the International Olympic Committee.
The inspired pioneer travelled to Chicago in 2007 and St Petersburg two years later – with the hopes of every young female fighter on her shoulders.
And after impressing IOC officials women’s boxing was officially added into the London 2012 Games – where Taylor won gold.
But earning the right for females to box at the Olympics meant much more than the 18oz medal or any world title Taylor has won as a professional.
She said: “People talk about the pressure today but it’s nothing in comparison to the pressure I felt back then where I’m not just fighting for myself but fighting for every female fighter for boxing at the Olympic Games.
“I knew I had to perform in those fights because this was more important than myself.
“This was to fight for women’s boxing to have a right in the Olympic Games.
“So, those fights were huge pressure fights and what I’m experiencing today is nothing in comparison to what I felt all those years ago.”
Taylor qualified for the 2016 Olympics as a hot favourite – but was stunned in defeat to Finland’s Mira Potkonen in the opening bout.
She turned pro just months later to embark on the next chapter of her already illustrious story.
Taylor became lightweight world champion in under a year and just seven bouts – since becoming undisputed in two divisions.
But perhaps the opponent who will define Taylor’s career more than anyone will be Puerto Rican great Amanda Serrano.
Taylor beat seven-weight champ Serrano in their 2022 classic at Madison Square Garden – both earning historic £1million paydays.
Their rematch last November in Texas in front of 70,000 was equally epic and controversial with Taylor again getting the disputed decision.
Now they meet back at New York’s famed MSG on Friday one last time – in a trilogy fight which would seem almost impossible to top.
But Taylor said: “The nature of both our styles, it’s always going to produce epic fights, so it’s just who we are.
” I can’t imagine the third fight will be much different than the first two.
“The fights just keep getting better and better between us two so I imagine the trilogy will be as exciting – hopefully not too exciting.
“But just the nature of who we are, it’s always going to be an absolutely great fight.”
