Katie to ponder offers to turn pro

Boxer Katie Taylor has received a number of offers to turn professional following her historic Olympic gold medal win in London earlier this month.

Taylor and her family depart on holidays later this week where they will decide if she remains amateur or joins the paid ranks.

However, the Bray woman, who met with UK and US promoters last week along with her father Peter, stressed she knows the challenges involved with a career in the professional game.

She told 98FM: “I have been offered a few pro contracts and I just have to sit down and talk to my dad about them and if I am interested in turning pro or not. But I know it is a different ball game altogether. I’ve seen amateurs turning pro and completely ruining their careers because they haven’t got the right promoter or they haven’t... there’s just so much more to it, in the professional game.

“I know the risks that I am going to be taking if I do decide to turn pro, but my family are not big fans of professional boxing at all,” she laughed.

“I know they wouldn’t be too happy about me turning professional, but in saying that, they would be completely behind me and support me all the way, if I did choose that.”

Whether she remains amateur or professional, Taylor insisted she will have no problems motivating herself after her Olympic heroics.

She reasoned: “There’s always going to be different challenges out there for me. If I stay amateur, defending my titles has always been a big challenge for me. Or else if I turn pro it’s obviously going to be a different ball game. Whatever avenue I choose it’s going to be an exciting few years for me I think, and I’ll have no problem motivating myself. It’s always a pleasure boxing for my country and representing my country well.”

Taylor also expressed delight with confirmation that coach Zaur Antia has expressed a desire to continue working with the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA).

Antia, whom Taylor described as “the best technical coach in the world”, told yesterday’s Irish Examiner that he is “going nowhere”.

She said: “The medals that we’ve got over the last few years wouldn’t have existed without Zaur. He’s changed Irish boxing forever. That’s why we’ve been so successful in the last two Olympics — because of the coaching that he’s brought to the country and every other coach has learned so much from him. He’s the best technical coach in the world. We used to always fight with heart and nobody could take that away from us — but now we have heart and skill, and that’s a tough combination, and that’s why we’re winning all these medals.”

Taylor’s father and coach Peter also welcomed Antia’s comments. He too is set to begin talks with the IABA about inking a new coaching contract.

He said: “Well that’s got to influence our decision as well. For us, it’s not just about money, it’s about the set-up that’s put around us. That’s going to be very important to us.”

He continued: “I’ve no complaints about the IABA, they’ve been very good to us over the last few years. They’ve let us do what we want to do. John Lynch [chairman IABA] has been absolutely marvellous to us, and the Irish Sports Council have been marvellous to us as well. But you know, we’ve got to look to securing Katie’s future as well. These are a few things that we’ve got to look to as well.”

Taylor senior insisted they will not rush any decision regarding his daughter’s boxing future.

“We’re going to sit down and talk about professional, or staying amateur,” he said.

“We’re going to look at a few of the contracts that have come in. Obviously we’ll speak to the [Irish] Sports Council as well. We’ll make a decision then.

“We’ll know — it’s not going to be a rushed decision, but we’ll know in the next month, what we’re going to do.”