Taylor primed for title bid

KATIE TAYLOR, currently the best female boxer in the world and Ireland’s leading hope of a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, will launch her bid for a sensational third world lightweight title in Barbados today.

The Bray woman who holds all the titles – European and EU as well as worlds – meets India’s Neetu Chahal in Bridgetown for a place in the last 16.

Taylor’s status among the world’s female boxers was recognised earlier this week when she was chosen to take the oath on behalf of her peers at the opening ceremony.

Cavan flyweight Ceire Smith and Dublin middleweight Sinead Kavanagh were handed the honour of getting Ireland’s campaign under way while Belfast light welterweight, Allana Murphy, faces an enormous task on Monday when she meets world champion, Gulsum Tatar of Turkey.