Taylor win gold at EU boxing championships

Reigning World and European lightweight champion Katie Taylor completed a fantastic day for Irish amateur boxing after claiming her third major title at the European Union Championships in Liverpool this afternoon.

The Bray boxing club sensation beat Cindy Orain of France 11-0 over three rounds to finish on top of the 60kg podium at the Greenpark Sports Arena on Merseyside.

The 21-year-old Irish woman, who did not concede a point in the tournament, won the first round 2-0, stretched her lead to 6-0 and the end of round two, before adding another five points to her total in the final frame.

The win arrived just a few hours after Irish captain Ken Egan got Ireland's Olympic campaign off to a flying start with an emphatic preliminary round 22-2 win over Julius Jackson of the Virgin Islands in Bejing.

Debbie Rogers, also of the Bray Boxing club, claimed a bronze medal in Liverpool.

Combined with Taylor's gold the double haul confirms Ireland's status as the top amateur boxing nation in the European Union, as Egan (gold), Darren Sutherland (gold), John Joe Nevin (gold), David Oliver Joyce (gold), Paddy Barnes (silver), and Con Sheehan (silver) all finished in podiums positions at the men's Europen Union Championships in Poland in June.

Ireland have now won medals from eight of the eleven weight categories at the Women's and Men's European Union Championships in the last two months.

Commentating on today's win, Peter Taylor, who was in his daughter's corner in Liverpool along with Pat Ryan, said they were satisfied with the victory.

He said: "This is the first European Union gold that Katie has won and she is delighted to have added to the one World title and the three European titles she has won for the last three years in a row.

"Katie dominated today's final and she is thrilled with the victory and very pleased with the fact that she did not concede a single point in Liverpool."