Professional boxer Katie Taylor has been named RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year 2020 over the weekend.
This is the Bray sweetheart’s second time, having received the award in 2012 following the London Olympics.
The 34-year-old has also been named WBA (World Boxing Association) Female Boxer of the Year 2020 and has also retained her Ring Magazine Female Fighter of the Year status.
2020 was another glorious year for the current undisputed lightweight champion, retaining her clean record of 0 losses.
Taylor settled the rivalry with Delfine Persoon last August, with Taylor winning on unanimous points, and Persoon conceding that Taylor had clearly won.
Also, in 2020 Taylor defended her titles against Spanish boxer Miriam Gutiérrez in London.
To date, Katie Taylor has had a wonderful career, and it’s no surprise that it was revealed she was Ireland’s most admirable sports star.
There are so many admirable moments from her career so far.
First female bout in Ireland.
Even from her early years Katie was making wavelengths for amateur boxing, and particularly for amateur female boxing. Growing up, Taylor looked up to her father who coached her brothers in boxing. She would accompany them to their boxing club, and after time started training herself, even disguising herself as a young boy under the alias of K Taylor, just so she could spar. At the age of 15, Katie Taylor fought the first officially sanctioned female boxing match in Ireland at the National Stadium and defeated Belfast boxer, Alanna Audley.
Amateur Career and Olympic Gold 2012.
Many people, even those uninterested in boxing will remember the exact moment Katie Taylor’s hand was raised in victory on August 9, 2012 against Russia’s Sofya Ochigava.
Before she turned professional, and up until August 2016 Taylor had an undefeated record. In her amateur sporting career Katie Taylor had 5 World Championship titles, 1 European Games title, 6 European Championship titles and 5 EU Championship titles, and can be held responsible for putting female boxing on the maps and inspiring many young girls to take up the once male-dominated sport.
Professional Debut.
There was a lot of speculation following the London Olympics 2012, and even more so following Rio 2016, about which boxers would turn professional after, and which would continue with their amateur career.
Katie Taylor made her professional debut on 26 November 2016, not long after her difficult exit from the amateur ranks.
Despite any doubts anyone may have had, Taylor ensured that people saw that she was made for the professional ranks, securing a third-round technical knockout (TKO) at the Wembley Arena in London.
First title fight.
Taylor won her first world title in October 2017, just under a year of turning to the professional ranks. This is notably fast for a world title shot, but Taylor showed she was able, and in a second-round stoppage over the current champion Anahí Ester Sánchez proved she was the best.
Undisputed Champion of the World
By June 2019 Katie Taylor has been known as the undisputed champion of the world and has retained that title since.
Following her first title fight, Taylor fought in a couple of fights to retain the WBA title (World Boxing Association) until she won the IBF (International Boxing Federation) nearly a year later against Victoria Bustos.
Taylor claimed the third belt, the WBO (World Boxing Organisation) in March 2019 following a TKO against Rose Volante. Easy work was made of claiming the final two belts, and Katie’s fourteenth fight, the controversial Taylor v Persoon resulted in Taylor’s hand being raised in victory, and her German opponent having to hand over the WBC (World Boxing Council) and the inaugural The Ring belts.