Katie Taylor is a Lightweight from Bray, Co. Wicklow, who began boxing in 1998.
Taylor comes from a family with a boxing background - her coach at the St. Fergal's Boxing Club in Bray is her father Peter - who was 1986 Irish senior light heavyweight champion. His daughter has won Three Consecutive AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships
In 2012 Katie Taylor was awarded for the second time the honour of Sportswoman of the Year for winning gold in the European and World Championships and retaining her title.
It was 2001 when Katie first made Irish boxing history in the first officially sanctioned women's bout ever held in Ireland, where she fought 16-year-old Alanna Audley of Belfast at the National Stadium in Dublin in the first of three female contests on a sixteen-bout amateur card.
Katie won over three 90-second rounds by 23-12. Irish Amateur Boxing Association President Dominic O'Rourke called the event "a momentous day for Irish boxing."
Katie then returned to National Stadium on 1 March 2002 to fight Candy Berry of England as part of a show that featured an Ireland vs. Canada senior men's tournament. Katie won this match.
Katie competed in the 60-kg division of the international Norway Box Cup in Oslo, defeating Ingrid Egner of Norway by 36-20 in the semi-final and Josefina Tengroth of Sweden in the final. Katie's strong performance in this tournament also earned her the Best Boxer of the Tournament award.
In February 2004 Katie topped the bill in an event sponsored by the Fermoy Boys/Girls Amateur Boxing Club. The full house of boxing fans at the Fermoy Rowing Club didn't see the rising Irish star for long, however, as she dispatched unbeaten Welsh opponent Lorna Cooper in just 30 seconds. "It was enough to let fans see just how good she is," insisted tournament organizer Pat Flynn, adding "she is an exceptional boxer and will take a lot of beating in the European championships later in the year."
June 2004 she competed in the Third International "Italia" Women's Tournament in Rome. Katie defeated Emanuela Pantani of Italy by a 22-6 margin in the quarter-final, Eva Wahlström of Finland by 39-25 in the semi-final and 2002 world 60-kg champion Jennifer Ogg of Canada by 31-28 in the final to win both her 60-kg division and the Best Boxer of Tournament award.
At the Third Women's European Boxing Championships in Riccione, Italy, Katie suffered a setback when she lost to reigning 63-kg world champion Yuliya Nemtsova of Russia by a 27-12 score. Taylor, who was Ireland's only representative in the tournament, had boxed well against a strong opponent and was surprised by the margin of victory awarded to the Russian. "It was most definitely a much closer fight than the score would suggest. I actually thought that I did enough to win." she said.
At the 20th Ahmet Comert Cup tournament on April 2005 in Istanbul Katie defeated Cindy Orain of France but lost her next fight to home-standing Gülsüm Tatar of Turkey by a 27-21 decision.
Katie then made more Irish boxing history again at age 18 in May 2005 when she became the first Irish woman to win a Gold Medal at the Senior European Championships.
Competing in Tønsberg, Norway, she stopped Eva Wahlström of Finland in the third round of their 60-kg lightweight final. Taylor held a 19-17 points lead when the contest was stopped after Wahlström suffered an eye injury. Taylor had opened her campaign with an impressive second round RSCO-2 stoppage over Lucie Bertaud of France, followed by a stirring semi-final clash with defending European champion Gülsüm Tatar of Turkey. At the end of this rematch with the Turkish boxer, the computer scoring was a 12-12 draw but Taylor won by 29-28 in countback (amount of punches thrown).
On March 11, 2006 at the National Stadium in Dublin Katie again faced Dina Burger of Switzerland. Katie made an excellent start building a comfortable lead and impressing ringsiders with her hand speed and footwork. Her Swiss opponent fought back strongly in the second and third rounds but Taylor came away with a 22-11 verdict
On March 18, 2006 in Cork, Katie won a close decision over Canadian National Junior Welterweight Champion Katie Dunn.
Katie began her run at the world title in 2006 with an excellent showing at the Witch Cup Tournament in Hungary in August 2006. She defeated Edina Pezdany of Hungary in her quarter-final bout, Marlene K. Nielsen of Denmark in her semi-final and then won the Gold Medal over Eva Wahlström of Finland.
At the 2006 European championships in September 2006 in Warsaw, Poland, Katie won her second European Gold medal in a row with a second round stoppage of reigning world champion Tatiana Chalaya of Chechnya. This time Taylor made short work of Chalaya, winning on the 15 point mercy rule with the scoring at 18-3. Katie also won the Best Boxer award in this tournament.
The win capped a big week for Katie who came through the tougher half of the draw to reach the final. She had qualified for the final with an 18-15 points win over her arch rival and reigning world silver medalist Gülsüm Tatar of Turkey.
At the 2006 Venus Box Cup in Denmark in October 2006, Katie won her preliminary over Elena Gorshkova of Russia by a 36-20 score, then stopped Marlene K. Nielsen of Denmark in her quarter-final and Romanian Florina Popa on the 15-point rule (17-2) in her semi-final to set up a 60-kg final with Lucie Beataud of France. She then had to pull out of the competition because of an injury to her nose, looking ahead to competing in the Fourth AIBA Women's Senior World Championships in India a little under a month later.
Her return to the AIBA World Championships at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, India saw Katie win five bouts in a row to take the 60-kg Gold Medal.
On November 18, 2006 she stopped US champion Caroline Barry by a 16-1 score on the 15 point mercy rule in the first round. On November 19 she again beat Eva Wahlström of Finland, this bout being stopped at 19-4 on the 15 point mercy rule in the second round. On November 21 in the quarter-final Katie beat Florina Popa of Romania 20-5, also on the 15 point mercy rule in the second round. On November 22 in the semi-final Katie defeated the defending world champion Tatiana Chalaya of Chechnya for the second straight time, by an impressive 23-6 margin (the mercy rule was not invoked and the bout went the distance).
In October 2007 Katie was crowned 60-kg champion for the third year in a row after a victory over Sandra Brugger of Switzerland.
Katie Taylor was awarded the Irish Times/VHI Healthcare Sportswoman of the Year Award for 2007 at the Western Hotel in Dublin on January 18, 2008.
In March 2008 in the 60-kg division at the Women's International Tournament held in Russia, Katie defeated Gulsum Tatar of Turkey 16-5 in her preliminary bout and went on to win the division and the "Best Boxer in Tournament" award.
Katie was awarded the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Female Boxer of the Year for 2008 in Moscow on December 12, 2008. Her spectacular success in 2008 also led to her being named as the Irish Times/Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Year for 2008, repeating the honor she received in 2007.
On March 21, 2009 at the O2 in Dublin, Katie won a 27-3 win over thee time Pan American champion Caroline Barry of the United States on the undercard of a pro WBA super bantamweight world title fight between Bernard Dunne of Ireland and Ricardo Cordoba of Panama. Speaking after the fight, Taylor, said she was stunned by the welcome she received from Irish boxing fans. She said: "I couldn't believe the reception I got - it was an amazing experience for me. I knew it was going to be a tough fight and well done to her for never backing off."
On April 19, 2009 in the 60-kg division of the women's Ahmet Comert Cup in Istanbul, Turkey, Katie defeated Ozlem Dinc of Turkey by a 5-1 margin to win yet another gold medal. She was also voted best female boxer and best boxer (male or female) of this prestigious tournament.
Katie Taylor's impressive athletic accomplishments are not limited to boxing - she has is also a key player in Irish Women's soccer! She competed in last season's Football Association of Ireland (FAI) Women's Senior Cup Final where her club were runners-up to Dundalk.
Katie has always dreamed of Olympic gold:
Taylor was born on June 2nd 1986 and is the current Irish, European, and world women's boxing champion in the 60kg division. She has also played Gaelic football and represented the Republic of Ireland in association football. Regarded as the outstanding Irish athlete of her generation, she bore the flag for Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London, later boxing her way to an Olympic medal in the lightweight.
Taylor studied at St. Kilian's Community School Bray from 1999 until 2005. Her two older brothers, Peter and Lee, and older sister, Sarah, also attended St. Kilian's.
