THERE have been female fighters, very good ones, before and after Katie Taylor turned pro, but nobody has done more to not only legitimise women’s boxing but also make it a mainstream attraction. In a career characterised by excellence and excitement in equal measure, here are the standout developments that saw one woman elevate all of boxing.
Amateur accolades
Starting out as an 11-year-old, Katie pretended to be a boy in order to get bouts. Literally, there were no other girl boxers in Ireland at the time. Her card listed her as simply “K. Taylor” and, with her hair tucked into her headguard and a prepubescent frame that didn’t betray her gender, she could pass for a boy – and she beat many boys, too.
At 15, she competed in the first sanctioned female boxing match of any kind in Ireland, beating Belfast’s Alanna Audley at Dublin’s National Stadium. Then, once she entered the Senior ranks, the gold rush began as she topped the podium at five European Championships, five World Championships and, most famously, the 2012 Olympics.
As an amateur, Taylor was already a star in Ireland, evidenced by her appearance on the mixed pro-am undercard of Bernard Dunne’s WBA title win over Ricardo Cordoba in March 2009. The reception she received from the crowd inside the Dublin O2 that night was every bit as loud and passionate as what later greeted Dunne, a male boxer in a professional title fight.
Olympic gold
London 2012 was the first Olympiad to host women’s boxing, doing so in just three weight categories. Inevitably, the tournament was viewed by many going in as an experiment or a curiosity, but that attitude had been eliminated long before Taylor claimed lightweight gold with a win over Russia’s Sofya Ochigava.
Even the most sceptical observers had to concede, having also watched the likes of Claressa Shields, Savannah Marshall, Nicola Adams, Natasha Jonas, Marlen Esparza, Ren Cancan and Mary Kom, that women’s boxing was a more-than valid inclusion in the Games.
But this was only what Ireland already knew, thanks to Taylor. Fans back home crowded the streets to watch her fights broadcast on big screens in the open air, while those who made the journey across the Irish Sea combined to generate the loudest crowd noise levels recorded at that Games.
Pro debut
It wasn’t until four years after that seminal moment in London that Taylor turned pro. This was because she had attempted to repeat her 2012 heroics by winning back-to-back Olympic golds, but was shockingly consigned to a first-bracket exit in Rio.
There was still huge interest in Taylor’s first paid outing, which came on November 26, 2016, inside Wembley Arena. Ostensibly, it was an undercard fight, but Taylor’s third-round win over Poland’s Karina Kopinska, live on Sky Sports, stole much of the attention away from male headliners Ohara Davies and Andrea Scarpa.
Taylor showcased the fast hands, versatile combination-punching and fierce competitive drive that would characterise her pro career and, for the few who had not yet witnessed her in the amateurs, convince any remaining doubters of both the quality and commercial potential of women’s boxing.
The rise
At 30, Taylor was late to turn pro – but, nine years later, it’s safe to say she nevertheless achieved everything she set out to do. Even so, a fast start was always likely, given not only her age but also her quality. Yes, it was important that she didn’t wait around – but she didn’t have to.
Taylor fought six times in the first nine months. She was into eight-round class by her fourth fight, and 10 rounds by the fifth. The venues included Manchester Arena, The O2, Wembley Stadium and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, on cards headlined by the likes of Tony Bellew-David Haye, Jorge Linares-Anthony Crolla, Mikey Garcia-Adrien Broner, and two Anthony Joshua world heavyweight title defences.
And she wasn’t overshadowed by the big names. Taylor brought her own travelling fans in large numbers, and was followed by the Sky Sports and Showtime cameras. As she surged towards her first world title shot, not only winning every fight but every round, Taylor was fast becoming a can’t-miss attraction, and even the most conservative of male observers could often be heard to say “I don’t like women’s boxing – but I like Katie Taylor”.
First world title
The coronation was always expected, but even Taylor’s most ardent fans were surprised by the ease with which she lifted the WBA lightweight title against seasoned Argentine Anahi Ester Sanchez on the October 2017 undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Carlos Takam.
That speed and volume punching with which she had so far dominated her professional opposition proved just as effective in title class, as Taylor dropped Sanchez in round two, hurt her on several other occasions, and otherwise overwhelmed the veteran, who would win just one of the 10 rounds.
It was the start of a 14-defence, six-and-a-half-year reign, and her first defence in particular looks outstanding in hindsight. American Jessica McCaskill was just 5-1 at the time, but would go on to become another of the leading lights of women’s boxing.
Taylor’s unanimous win inside London’s York Hall in December 2017 represented the first time a women’s world title fight main-evented a show in Britain.
Undisputed
Taylor added the IBF title in her next fight, an April 2018 unanimous decision over Argentina’s Victoria Bustos, and then the WBO four fights later, in March 2019, with a ninth-round stoppage of Brazil’s Rose Volante. As she did so, she also defended the WBA crown a further five times and expanded her international brand, with four of those five fights taking place in the US.
This all led to the biggest night of her professional life to that point – a spot high up the PPV undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz. Taylor’s undisputed lightweight title showdown with Belgian Delfine Persoon would have been the fight of the night on any night that didn’t end with one of the biggest upsets in world heavyweight title history.
That June 2018 night inside Madison Square Garden, Taylor found herself in the unusual and uncomfortable position of being pushed back, but her counter-punching was rewarded by the judges, who gave her a majority decision that Persoon bitterly protested. It was inevitable they’d do it again.
And when they did, 14 months later, Taylor was much improved. Persoon again brought the heat, but Taylor judged her attacks and the distance better, and spent less time on the ropes. Again her speed and counters earned the favour of the judges – and even Persoon, who conceded of the unanimous nod: “This time I respect the result.”
It had been one of the standout bouts of the Fight Camp series staged in Eddie Hearn’s garden during the coronavirus epidemic, proving again that Taylor could be relied on to bring both skill and excitement to an event in any setting.
‘Greatness’
It was similar inside an empty AO Arena in Manchester in May 2021, with fans still largely being kept away from live sport, but Taylor and Natasha Jonas fought as if roared on by thousands.
After a bright start, Jonas adjusted with smart boxing and accurate shots that seemed to affect Taylor more as the fight wore on, and the Liverpudlian looked like she might even be on the way to an upset as the fight’s closing segment neared. But Taylor simply willed herself to win over the last two rounds.
Taylor’s unanimous but close win was hailed as an example of boxing “greatness” by pundit Steve Bunce, who called for a third meeting between the pair, who had previously fought at the 212 Olympics.
That would not happen, but even in defeat this encounter proved pivotal for Jonas. Having pushed the best woman fighter in the world to a one-point margin on two cards, Jonas gained a level of confidence that would take her from there to multiple world titles across two weights.
The Fight of the Century
If a great fighter needs a great rival to truly cement their place in the public consciousness, Taylor found hers in Amanda Serrano, the seven-weight world champion from Puerto Rico.
The April 2022 opening chapter of what would become one of boxing’s best trilogies was historic even before the action began, for it was the first time a women’s bout had headlined at Madison Square Garden, the most celebrated boxing venue of them all.
That it was billed as The Fight Of The Century annoyed some traditionalists, who scoffed at the idea a female fight might be staged under the same tagline as Ali-Frazier I. But it wouldn’t have come as a surprise to those who had long since been converted by Taylor (and others) – who by now well outnumbered the sceptics – that this fight lived up to its billing, at least within the realms of the women’s sport. A spellbinding encounter of speed versus power, with multiple high points and shifts of momentum, enraptured a sold-out crowd who greeted the spectacle with cacophonous noise.
“Look what we have just done,” said Taylor as she accepted both the adulation of 19,000 spectators and the verdict of two of three judges.
Revenge
By May 2023, and at age 37, there was little left for Taylor to achieve, but one fight was intended to fulfil two remaining ambitions – to become a two-weight undisputed champion and to fight in her homeland as a professional.
But Englishwoman Chantelle Cameron spoiled what may, had it gone Taylor’s way, have provided a perfect conclusion to an already-astonishing career.
Cameron carried all four super-lightweight belts into Dublin’s 3Arena. She took them back to Northampton, too, after an upset that finally quietened the wall of noise that surrounded Taylor wherever she fought, and even more at home on what was supposed to be the biggest party of them all.
Not for the first time, Taylor had come under fire from an aggressive opponent. Not for the first time, she responded and rallied and demonstrated a searing thirst for victory. For the first time, though, it wasn’t enough.
But, not for the first time – nor last – Taylor would prove her ability to win rematches.
Taylor and Cameron returned to the same venue six months later, with Taylor in the unprecedented position of starting as underdog. Also unprecedented was her more aggressive approach – a tactic that almost backfired in a fight bookended by Taylor being rocked early and late.
But she banked enough of the middle rounds of another classic to win a majority decision and become Ireland’s first two-weight undisputed champion.
Eight-figure audience
November 15, 2024, showcased the very best and worst of boxing to the sport’s largest live broadcast in history. While the majority of the 65million concurrent streams reported by Netflix had tuned in for the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson freakshow, those who did so early would have had the pleasure of witnessing Taylor and Serrano’s rematch in chief support.
The two women put on another breathtaking thriller that more than made up for the ghoulish main event which followed it, and which can’t have failed to convert legions of new fans (not only among those watching at home but also the 72,300 people in attendance at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium) not just to women’s boxing but boxing, period.
Netflix was happy with the spectacle – a unanimous decision for Taylor this time, but by just a single point on all three cards – with the world’s largest streaming platform inviting the combatants back for their trilogy match, in the main event of this Friday’s all-female card at Madison Square Garden – meaning yet more history made by the woman who’s arguably made more than any other.
