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AIBA June Boxer of the Month: Katie
Taylor
Source/PR-AIBA
July 4, 2015 |
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(JULY 4) The
International Boxing A AIBA June Boxer of the Month: Katie
Taylor. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has
named Ireland’s Katie Taylor as its Boxer of the Month for June.
Taylor is the current Olympic Champion, AIBA Women’s World
Champion, EUBC European Women’s Continental Champion, and
European Union Champion, and added a gold medal from the Baku
2015 European Games to her glistening trophy cabinet on Saturday
night.
AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu said: “I would like to
congratulate Katie on becoming the AIBA Athlete of the Month of
June, and on her recent gold medal victory in the Baku 2015
European Games. Katie is a true ambassador of women’s boxing and
with this award she now sits next to the greatest names in
boxing. Her performance and sporting excellence play a
fundamental part in further development of our sport and I’m
looking forward to seeing her participate in the upcoming
competitions”.
Taylor’s early career
Katie Taylor was born in 1986, and began boxing in the city of
Bray under the tutelage of father Peter, who has continued to
coach her throughout her career.
2004 represented Taylor’s breakthrough year at international
events, as she won both the Norway Box Cup and the Italian
International Tournament.
Her first major success came at the European Women’s Continental
Championships in 2005, where she defeated strong boxers
including Turkey’s Gulsum Tatar and Finland’s Eva Wahlstroem.
Since then, she has defended her European title a further five
times.
AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships supremacy
Taylor took part in the 2005 AIBA Women’s World Boxing
Championships as a nineteen-year-old, and reached the second
round.
The Irish boxer secured her first gold medal in the world class
event in 2006, and she also made her debut for Ireland’s
international senior women’s football team that same year.
A further four World Championships gold medals have been awarded
to Taylor since 2006, most recently in 2014 when she excelled in
Jeju.
London 2012 Olympic gold
Taylor arrived to the London 2012 Olympic Games as the top
favourite of the Women’s Lightweight class (60 kg), and carried
the flag of her proud nation in the opening ceremony.
World class rivals in Natasha Jonas, Mavzuna Chorieva and
Russia’s Sofya Ochigava all attempted to defeat the Irish
sensation, but Taylor lived up to her reputation with three
outstanding victories to secure gold in the event.
Her success was Ireland’s sole gold medal in any sport at London
2012.
Katie Taylor in the Baku 2015 European Games
Katie Taylor was hungry for even more success in the Baku 2015
European Games, especially as she was named an ambassador for
the event.
She first had to meet Bulgarian veteran Denitsa Eliseeva, who
was the last boxer to defeat Taylor more than four years ago,
but this time the Irish icon competed at a completely different
level, and won with aplomb.
After a second victory over Sweden’s talented Ida Lundblad,
Taylor then met with Azerbaijan’s Yana Alekseevna in the
semi-final.
The two boxers produced one of the greatest bouts of the Games,
and despite being tested more than she had by anybody since her
undefeated streak began, Taylor secured a narrow, yet deserved
victory.
France’s Estelle Mossely was her opponent in the final, and this
time a more confident and composed Taylor dominated proceedings
to claim her 18th title at a major event.
Taylor’s gold medal was presented to her by compatriot Patrick
Hickey, who is the President of both the Olympic Council of
Ireland, and the European Olympic Committees (EOC), and the
member of the IOC Executive Board.
Regarding Taylor’s accomplishments, he said: “I would like to
congratulate Katie on becoming the AIBA Boxer of the Month, and
to thank the International Boxing Association on ensuring the
further development of women’s boxing. Boxing is one of the key
sports in Europe and we witnessed some really high quality
performances in Baku 2015 European Games. I am looking forward
to seeing Katie become one of the greatest boxers in the history
of this sport”.
Taylor speaks
“My main goal is to defend my Olympic title and I think every
competition is getting tougher. Because I am the Champion, my
opponents always want to raise their game against me, so I have
to continue to improve. I do get hungrier for medals, and it is
great to add this European Games gold to my list.
“There are a lot of fighters coming up that want to take my
place, and I think some people at home think I just stroll
through these competitions, but every fight is a hard battle and
not so easy to win.
“I just have a great team of people behind me, and my family
too. My mother was here in Baku, she was praying for me in the
stadium which strengthens me. I think when you are so
consistent, you have stand up and take notice.
“I have said before I do not think people recognize the
consistency enough. Sonia O’Sullivan has always been my hero and
I still rate her as the greatest Irish athlete, and I want to go
down in the history books as the greatest woman boxer of all
time,” said Taylor after the Baku 2015 European Games.
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