Taylor’s made for Olympics

THE campaign to have women’s boxing introduced to the Olympics has sometimes seemed like a crusade to ensure Ireland wins a gold medal in London.
So it was no surprise that the IOC’s decision on Thursday to give female pugilists a shot at the ultimate dream was greeted with near delirium on these shores, making front pages as well as the back.
This is the type of pressure young Katie Taylor has to contend with, and the intensity of it is certain to increase between now and 2012 as the countdown begins for the gifted Bray woman.
Irish Sports Council chief executive John Treacy pleaded that Taylor not be “overburdened with expectation”, while High Performance Head Coach Billy Walsh cautioned that “a lot can happen in three years”.
But as a two-time world lightweight champion, who will be chasing her fourth successive European crown next month, the 22-year-old is one of Ireland’s most successful athletes ever.
“I’ve stated on a few occasions that she is the best athlete we have in this gym, not only in sporting terms but also in terms of lifestyle and as a role model,” said Walsh at the National Stadium yesterday.
“There are very, very few in this gym who are technically better. (But) when you talk about a boxer you talk about the full package, and there’s one that has the full package. And it’s Katie.”
So much for deflecting the pressure, as her father and coach Peter insists will be done. It’s difficult when you’re dealing with such a prodigious talent as Taylor’s though.
The 2008 AIBA Women’s Boxer of the Year added to her growing legend in April when she was named Boxer of the Tournament – male and female – at the prestigious Ahmet Cup in Turkey.
“It’s going to be hard the next three years,” the remarkably grounded fighter concedes.
“A lot of people seem to assume that I’m just going to turn up and come away with a gold medal.
“All I can do is try my best, keep going as I am doing, hopefully keep improving as a boxer with my Da and the High Performance (team).
“I’m just going to try my best and keep enjoying my boxing for the next three years. Hopefully that will lead on to qualification and then the Olympic gold. But at the moment I’m just concentrating on the Europeans and each tournament as they come along.”
Unfortunately, Taylor’s good luck could spell bad news for other potential medal hopes, with Paddy Barnes’ 48kg division favourite for the chop.
The Holy Trinity fighter now faces the prospect of having to move up a division but according to Walsh, his medal chances will not diminish if that happens.
“It won’t be nice for Paddy but we’ve lost a weight division in 2000, we lost light-middleweight, and we had to adapt to that.
“I’m sure he will have to adapt. At the moment he can perform at that weight but it will be an easy transition for him to move up.
“He’s a world class performer. He has a never-say-die attitude as you saw at the Olympics. He will be one of the men to beat in the world championships, he’s in great form.”

Taylor’s focus won’t be affected by Olympics

Taylor-made for London: Two-time world boxing champion Katie Taylor poses for the cameras during a visit to Ligoniel Boxing Club earlier this year. Taylor, who was a big hit on the visit, received good news yesterday with the confirmation that women’s boxing will be part of the Olympcs in London in 2012

IRELAND’S female boxing sensation Katie Taylor will have to “stay focussed and remain number one” if she hopes to reach the 2012 London Olympics, according to her father and coach Peter Taylor.
While Taylor was “absolutely delighted” with yesterday’s International Olympic Committee’s [IOC] decision to allow women boxers to compete in the Games for the first time since 1904, he was already quelling the ‘gold medal hype’ surrounding his gifted 23-year-old daughter.
Yesterday, bookmakers were already quoting Taylor’s gold medal prospects in London at 1/2.
“We’re absolutely delighted because we’ve been waiting a long time for this,” said Peter.
“Now we just have to stay focussed and stay number one. London is a long way away and I just hope everybody stops talking about Katie being guaranteed a gold medal because there is no such thing.
“All we’re concentrating on is the next competition, which is the European Championships in five weeks’ time (in Ukraine). We can’t think about the Olympics now. We have to concentrate on what we’re doing, but obviously we’re delighted.”
Father and daughter expect a “mad few days” ahead of them – while Peter also answered some of the concerns expressed by the health professionals. The highly influential British Medical Association said the sport should “play no part in a modern Olympic games” and that the IOC’s decision would “encourage more people to take up this dangerous sport”.
Taylor countered: “It’s a matter of opinion and everybody is entitled to theirs. Those people who are against women boxing probably never sat down and watched any tournaments. Those people would be uneducated in women’s boxing.”

The IOC has announced three weight classes for women in the London Games: flyweight (48- 51kg), lightweight (56-60kg) and middleweight (69-75kg) – with 12 boxers taking part at each weight. Bray’s Katie Taylor currently fights at 60 kilos.
In order for the total number of boxers to remain at 286 there will be one less weight category in the men’s competition, meaning that there will be 10 weights for men.
Also at yesterday’s high-powered Berlin meeting, the IOC agreed to include golf and rugby sevens at the 2016 games.
Irish boxing president Dominic O’Rourke said: “Over the last number of years Katie has performed with a level of consistency rarely seen in international sport.
“Katie and her father and coach Peter have worked tremendously hard to help promote women’s amateur boxing internationally and they deserve this opportunity.”
Sarah Close, daughter of former professional boxer Ray Close, Holy Family’s Michaela Walsh, Ligoniel’s Sarah-Jane McLaughlin and Dublin’s Kelly Harrington are just some of the names that will be aiming for the bright lights of London in three years’ time.
Ligoniel’s female boxing coach Carla McAuley was delighted with the IOC’s decision yesterday.
She said: “Katie Taylor is an inspirational person. She visited our club in January and so many girls wanted to take up boxing after her visit. She made a major impact at our club.”
Asked whether women’s boxing would be up to Olympic standard, Carla added: “People just need to watch Katie Taylor and the hard work she puts in. She has proven that with the right dedication and commitment you can succeed. She’s a great example to every female boxer.”

WOMEN’S BOXING: THE FACTS
Women’s boxing is widely practised in more than 120 countries and on five continents, with an estimated 500,000 participants worldwide
- Women’s World Championships in boxing have been organised five times and the number of countries and participants has grown steadily to 218 boxers from 39 countries at the AIBA Women’s World Championships in Ningbo City, China in 2008.
2001 Scranton, USA: 124 boxers/31 countries
2002 Antalya, Turkey: 185 boxers/31 countries
2005 Podolsk, Russia: 139 boxers/30 countries
2006 New Delhi, India: 174 boxers/33 countries
2008 Ningbo City, China: 218 boxers/39 countries
2010 Bridgetown, Barbados: Next championships

- Boxing was the only sport in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games which did not include female competitors
- Continental Women’s Boxing Championships have been held 18 times as follows:
Africa – 1; Americas – 4; Asia – 4; Oceania – 3 (together with men’s event); Europe – 6
European Women’s Boxing Championships as follows:
2001 France: 78 boxers/14 countries
2003 Hungary: 117 boxers/21 countries
2004 Italy: 116 boxers/16 countries
2005 Norway: 100 boxers/18 countries
2006 Poland: 126 boxers/22 countries
2007 Denmark: 137 boxers/26 countries
 

Women get Olympic opportunity

TWO of Ulster boxing’s leading figures have welcomed yesterday’s announcement that women will compete at the 2012 London Olympics – but expressed concern over the possibility of a male weight class being cut from the Games.
Ulster Council President Pat McCrory and international coach Gerry Storey backed the International Olympic Committee’s [IOC] decision, taken in Berlin, to include females for the first time since 1904.
However, there is growing speculation the light flyweight [48 kilos] and possibly the super heavyweight divisions may be squeezed off the Olympic roster to make room for the three additional weight classes for women [48-51 kilos; 56-60 kilos; 69-75 kilos].
‘‘It’s great to see the women competing at the next Olympics, but what we don’t want to see happen is for the Games to do away with some of the male boxing categories to make space for the women. That would be absolutely wrong,’’ said Storey.
The Holy Family trainer speculated that rigid television schedules could pressurise the IOC into ‘‘handicapping’’ some lighter and heavier competitors.
‘‘Maybe television has a big say in this. You only have so many days for competition. Potentially, it’s opening the door for women and closing the door on men. It would be an insult to a man at 48 kilos who can’t be heavy. It’s not his fault he’s 48 kilos.
‘‘At the moment it is only speculation, but the light flyweight and the super heavyweight classes could be cut.’’
Provincial supremo Pat McCrory warmly greeted the inclusion of women and the prospect of Bray’s two-times world champion Katie Taylor winning gold in three years’ time, but added the news could have ‘‘serious implications’’ for the light flyweight division.
‘‘Paddy Barnes won a bronze medal at light flyweight at the last Olympics, so it could have serious implications for Irish boxing because we’ve performed well at the lighter weights,’’ said McCrory.
‘‘If the light flyweight category is scrapped, then that would apply to all international competitions and Paddy would have to move up to 51 kilos, which wouldn’t be ideal.’’
Some of Ireland’s great amateur boxers starred at the lighter weight categories, including Olympic medallists Wayne McCullough and Hugh Russell, while Gerry Hawkins, Damaen Kelly, Neil McLaughlin and Davy Larmour are other local fighters that excelled in the lighter weight divisions.

Olympic battle for Barnes as his weight category is dropped

OLYMPIC bronze medallist boxer Paddy Barnes will have to battle harder for a chance of a gold medal at the 2012 games after his weight category was scrapped.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed yesterday to introduce three women’s boxing categories in the games but has dropped the men’s light-flyweight division to make way for the new events.
The Belfast boxer, who won his medal at last year’s Olympic games in Beijing, decided not to turn professional to be in with a chance of competing for gold in London 2012.
Speaking from Dublin last night, he said he is still determined to try to compete.
“I’m not happy about it but I just have to go up a weight,” he said.
Barnes said the weight change means that he will be up against taller and bigger opponents who are used to fighting at the heavier weight.
“I’m just going to have to change my style,” he said.
“I’m not giving to give up.”

The introduction of women’s boxing means that Irish boxer Katie Taylor, already a double world champion, has been tipped as a likely
gold-medal winner.
Ulster boxing president Pat McCrory said it was “extremely disappointing” to see the light- flyweight division scrapped.
“It’s not good news for Paddy Barnes,” he said.
“He’s going to find it hard to go up a weight. It’s not like you just have to eat a few more Mars bars.
“If you’re fighting fit at that weight it’s very difficult to go up a weight.”
However, Mr McCrory said the announcement was good news for women’s boxing.
“Katie Taylor is already a world champion so she has a really good chance of doing very well,” he said.