Taylor keeping eyes on the prize

KATIE TAYLOR, pictured, has indicated that she would have remained an amateur fighter even if her dream of competing at the 2012 Olympic Games had not been made possible this week.

Bray’s world and European champion had previously suggested she would consider a move to the paid ranks if the International Olympic Committee had not ratified the entry of women’s boxing for the London Games.

“I’m not sure what I would have done,” said Taylor in Dublin yesterday. “It would have been very hard to take if it hadn’t come in but there was always a lot of support from the Sports Council.

“They were going to support me no matter what the decision was. I was always going to be classed as a world-class athlete by the Sports Council so I don’t think there would have been a need to turn pro.”

Taylor was speaking at the National Stadium and the message everyone in and around boxing was keen to get across was the importance of keeping emotions and expectations in check.

Head boxing coach Billy Walsh, Irish Sports Council chief executive John Treacy and IABA vice-president Tommy Murphy all pleaded for the public to be realistic about a competition that is still three years away.

“It’s going to be hard the next three years,” Taylor herself echoed. “I think a lot of people are assuming that I just have to turn up and win the gold medal but all I can do is try my best and keep going as I am.”

The accession of women’s boxing spells the death knell for one of the men’s divisions, most likely the 48kg class in which Paddy Barnes claimed bronze in Beijing.

That, on the surface is a huge blow to the Belfast boxer but the reality is that people gain weight the older they get and Irish head coach Walsh believes Barnes will adapt.

“Anybody who knows that weight division will know that it will have to affect them. Forty-eight kilos is a hard weight to maintain. I think I was 13 when I weighed that.”

The same theory applies to Taylor who currently fights in the 60kg division. Should she fail to make that weight, she could be faced with a jump of half a stone for the Olympics but she is confident she can remain as is. I haven’t any problems with weight at the moment. I’m walking around at 62kg right now so all I have to lose is a few kilos to get to 60. I should be able to hold it for a few years.”