Keegan: pressure mounting on Katie

THE Institute of Sport’s director of performance management, Gary Keegan, has warned that expectations of success from boxer Katie Taylor in the 2012 Olympics will have to be ‘managed’ in the run-up to the Games.

Taylor is odds-on favourites to take gold in London, but Keegan, who worked with the Irish boxers who won three medals in Beijing, says the Bray tyro will face more pressure than any other Irish participant in the English capital.

Keegan said: “There is a real issue in managing the level of expectation when it comes to Katie. The world of boxing has changed and one significant thing she’ll face, which no other Irish athlete will face, is the level of pressure in her weight division. There are only three weight divisions for women’s boxing in London. That means those who can do so – in the weight division above her and the division below her – will converge on her division. The best in the world at 64kg and 57kg will move to confront her at 60kg, which increases the quality of individual competing by 200%.”