Taylor’s terrific European triumph a huge boost for Irish boxing

KATIE TAYLOR provided Irish boxing with another lift over the weekend when she claimed the 60kg title with a spectacular win over Eva Walstrom from Finland in the finals of the European senior championships in Norway.

The 18 year old Bray girl, who was Irish soccer’s U18 player of the year last year, was ahead on points, 19-17, when the contest was stopped in the third round after the Walstrom had sustained an eye injury.

Taylor reversed the decision from last month’s Turkish multi-nations tournament when she beat the European champion, Gtalsam Tatar, on countback in the semi-finals.

“It was an amazing achievement considering the fact that we only have two girls boxing at this level,” High Performance Director, Gary Keegan, said yesterday. “If we had hundreds or even a thousand girls a gold medal at the European championships would still be a remarkable achievement.”