1 week Ago
An emotional Katie Taylor was moved to tears at a press conference in Texas ahead of her rematch with Amanda Serrano when asked about the ever-presence of her mother Bridget throughout her career and how special that has been. The question had Taylor veering off script, forcing her to take a prolonged pause to choke up as she sought to verbalise the relationship. “It's amazing.
She’s the biggest support,” said Taylor, unable to finish the sentence, with Bridget standing just a few feet away. And even after the pause was over and the next question had landed, there was still some calibration required before composure was recovered. “I have to compose myself.
I'm still a small bit emotional,” she conceded. The moment felt like a departure for an athlete adept at not dropping her emotional guard in what was an otherwise routine question and answer session that focused on her legacy, a developing rivalry with Serrano that some present in the room were bracketing as the female equivalent of Ali-Frazier and an unyielding desire that she can still box to a packed Croke Park in whatever time she has left. Taylor and Serrano were both in Irving's Toyota Music Factory for a public work-out, along with the other fighters on a card that is being headlined on Friday night by the unusual confluence of two boxing worlds when YouTuber-turned-fighter Jake Paul takes on Mike Tyson.
Tyson is 31 years Paul's senior and fighting in a sanctioned event for the first time in 19 years since he refused to come out for the seventh round against his heavyweight opponent, Clones’ Kevin McBride. That bout has drawn derision in many established boxing quarters but with Netflix streaming to a viewership in excess of 280m even a fraction of that has organisers touting Taylor-Serrano as potentially being the most watched female sports event of all time. For Taylor then, her life’s work feels complete, as does her legacy, a point she didn't dispute in conversation.
Getting young girls into gyms across Ireland, and indeed elsewhere is, she acknowledged, has been the most "satisfying part" of the journey. “It’s amazing I think even after the last fight (with Serrano), it inspired so many young girls to get involved in the sport,” she said. “One of my favourite moments after that fight was a father bringing a daughter into the gym because of myself and Amanda.
Just hearing stories like that is so heartwarming having a chance to impact the next generation of female fighters. “I'd like to think my legacy is already secured in the sport. When I first started boxing as a nine or 10-year-old, I was the only female fighter I really knew of.
If you go home now every single boxing gym in Ireland is full of female fighters. “That to me is the absolute best and we have Olympic champions, our women's boxing teams are absolutely outstanding, it's very strong.” Yet Taylor believes some further revisionism is required to properly give context to a previous Mike Tyson fight that had a female undercard, when he stripped Frank Bruno of his heavyweight titles in 1996.
Mornington’s Deirdre Gogarty fought Christy Martin that night in Las Vegas, taking just a round to alter the mood of an initially sceptical crowd. “They're pioneers of the sport. I don't feel like we'd be in the position today if it wasn't for those women,” said Taylor.
“They were getting booed going to the ring that day but it was actually the fight of the night and on the way out of the ring they got a standing ovation. “That's one of the biggest moments in women's boxing for me. I don't think it gets talked about as much as it should really.
An absolutely iconic moment for the sport. “Talk about pressure. Those girls were under pressure going into the ring that day and they came out as heroes and I'll be forever grateful for women like that because that's the reason we're here right now.
” Taylor's global reach continues to extend too and it's clear that getting this fight on again for the undisputed super lightweight championship brings that to a new level. “We made history to get it once but it feels like this is on an even bigger scale again,” she said. Read more “It's just amazing to be involved in another big, epic fight.
Of all the fights I have had this is the one that really excites me. I really can't wait to step into there.” Taylor has been out of the ring since her win over Chantelle Cameron in Dublin last November, her longest spell of inactivity in the paid ranks.
But it's not something that concerns her greatly. At 38, she is coming around to the belief that less may in fact be more, after a frantic entry into the pro ranks. “I feel like the extra break has done me the world of good as well.
There were a few things earlier in the year that needed to be sorted out so I feel that I am in much better shape right now. Mentally, physically this is the best shape I have been in.” For Taylor, Croke Park feels like one last barrier to breach.
“I was hoping before that I'd be fighting at Croke Park in front of 100,000 people but I've had this chance now to fight in front of 100,000 people (the crowd at the AT&T Stadium is more likely to be 60,000),” she said. “It's not Croke Park but it's here in Dallas on a Mike Tyson undercard so this is definitely a bigger stage than I could have imagined. But I am still hopeful that a Croke Park fight could happen.
” Read more.
