Katie’s pro plans suffer setback

Katie Taylor’s hopes of entering the professional ring in the coming weeks while still retaining her ambition of claiming a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics have been dashed.

Taylor had expressed her frustration with the International Amateur Boxing Association’s (AIBA) lack of progress in developing the women’s sport earlier this year, and threatened to turn her back on her Rio dream to enter the world of professional boxing.

Currently male boxers are allowed to compete in the World Series of Boxing (WSB), a professional tournament potential Olympians can enter. But last week she said: “My dad has been emailing them back and forth and hopefully things will get sorted in the next few weeks. That’s what they promised anyway and hopefully the WSB will get going in the next few months.”