Katie is out now
Sometimes, you’re so busy just getting through difficult times, you don’t realise how hard they are. Only hindsight gives perspective. What Ross Whitaker’s documentary, Katie, shows is that even trailblazing champions have bad times, and that kind of honesty is what Katie Taylor wanted from this intimate portrait.
Whether by chance or not, filming began when she was at her lowest ebb, and her openness about what she is feeling gives depth to the fascinating story of her remarkable drive and success. To paraphrase her manager, everyone knows Katie Taylor, but no one really knows Katie Taylor.
The Bray Bomber seems tinier than a boxing champion should. Her lovely face is make-up free and shows no signs of the sport she has been mistress of for two decades. As she sits with Ross Whitaker to discuss their film, she is earnest, sweet and engaged — everyone is charmed.
Ross has made four films about boxing. He relishes both the drama and dedication inherent in it, and Katie knew his work — she’d been to see Saviours several times and felt she could trust him.
Filming began in November 2016. “It was a strange time,” Katie says, “It was probably the lowest point of my life after the Rio Olympics. I think I had such confidence that I could grow up and become a world champion again, and I think it was important for people to see the highs and lows of life. It is a very real documentary, and I hope it inspires and encourages people.”
The film tells the story of a tight-knit family in Bray, Co Wicklow, of a shy but determined little girl who was skilled in a number of sports. Her father, Pete, was Irish light heavyweight champion in 1986, the year Katie was born. When he built a makeshift training area in the back garden, she knew she had found her calling. It was not a sport for girls, so Katie had to put her hair in a net under her helmet to fight boys. She got that rule changed. Then she got a few more changed too — her success was instrumental in getting women’s boxing sanctioned in Ireland, and in the first official fight a 15-year-old Katie beat Alanna Audley.
She is modest on the trailblazing theme, citing the support from her family: “My mam was the first female boxing judge in the country, so I think I continued on with her pioneering spirit.” Her mother, Bridget, is with her today and, like Katie’s sister and two brothers, features in the documentary. Bridget remembers a six-year-old Katie standing on a chair in the kitchen, pretending it was a podium, to accept an Olympic medal. Cue the next set of rules to be changed — getting women’s boxing recognised as an Olympic sport. It’s one thing to win in a category that exists, but another to have to make the category so you can win it.
“Katie has always been overcoming things,” says Ross, “It has become normal to her to have barriers in front of her which men don’t have, and to continue to do that has become Katie’s reality. She is still doing that in the pro game. What’s happening in women’s boxing now is incredibly exciting, and again she is at the forefront.”
Katie laughs, but she concedes that boxing in front of the Olympic Committee was a huge moment for her because it would determine whether or the sport was recognised for the Games. Having got it recognised, she went on to win the gold medal in 2012, becoming the first ever Olympic female lightweight champion.
In the documentary, the family talk about the breakdown of her parents’ marriage. Her father, who had been Katie’s trainer and mentor since the beginning, stopped being her trainer. In the film, she speaks of her sense of loss at not having him in her corner, describing how she cried on the way to her first training session without him.
There is a real sense of her grief and utter devastation at losing in the first round of the Rio Olympics in 2016. This was where filming started. “Looking back on it now I think, ‘How did I even get through that time?’. But it is only in retrospect that you realise it was really tough. At the time, you’re going through it day by day, doing what you have to do and trying to get on with things — that’s it. After the Rio Olympics, I had to think long and hard about what I was going to do.”
A few months in Connecticut with trainer Ross Enamait saw her decide to turn professional. Within a month, she had her first fight, but again there were obsta- cles, not least that it was hard to get opponents. But this is Katie Taylor, and more obstacles have been overcome.
Moving to America proved lonely, but in many ways she feels it was the first time she really made her own decisions. “I had to stand on my own two feet for the first time. It was a tough time for sure, but I knew that moving over to America and starting this new journey, sometimes you have to make big sacrifices to make dreams. I definitely wouldn’t be the person that I was if I didn’t have to go through all that.”
Yet for all her drive and success, there is a sense that Katie is never quite good enough for herself. “My mam is always worried about that aspect because she says you have to enjoy the moment and enjoy the victories. And I definitely do enjoy the victories, but I never come out of the ring thinking, ‘That was a great performance’. (I think), ‘There’s loads of room for improvement, I should have done this better or that better’. I think that is part of the drive. I want to be the best that I can be. I am proud of what I have achieved, but I feel like I am only getting started.”
Another part of her drive is religion. Raised a Pentecostalist by her mother, she describes her faith as, “Probably the most important part of my life really”. “I obviously knew growing up that God had a great plan for my life. Boxing felt like a gift that God has given me, and I want to make the most of this gift and to honour God in everything that I do”.
Ross mentions her perfect athlete’s mentality of always looking ahead, focusing on the next fight, but not getting distracted by looking too far ahead. Still, does she wonder what she will do after? “That’s a good question,” she laughs. “I don’t like putting a limit on things. I feel fitter and stronger than ever, and that could be the case in five years’ time as well. But yeah, I do have to think about that!” Mount Stewart, Newtownards Tonight and tomorrow, 7pm
How do you fancy becoming a sleuth at a night of murder and intrigue? Spirit of the Place transports you back to 1967, with Lady Constance throwing a Halloween bash. And a little party never killed anyone, or did it?
After an aperitif in the entrance hall of the Mansion House, guests will be asked to meet the suspects in the various rooms of Mount Stewart. Detectives will then enjoy a hot fork supper buffet while deliberating over the evidence, before it is revealed who the murderer really is.
Strictly over-18s only. Unfortunately, dogs are not welcome at this event.
For box office, tel: 4278 8387.
Market Place, Armagh Tonight, 8pm Harty Room
Tonight, 7.30pm and Sunday, 3pm
The Belfast Music Society hosts two concerts this weekend bringing back home two young Northern Irish pianists who have made their marks and, indeed, their careers in other lands.
Tonight at 7.30pm in the Harty Room, Londonderry-born pianist Cathal Breslin will accompany St Petersburg-born violinist Kirill Troussov in a programme including music by Tchaikovsky — notable because the Stradivarius Troussov will play was used for the first performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in 1881.
On Sunday afternoon, Newry-born pianist David Quigley will give a solo recital, coincidentally to launch his latest CD on the Avie label, entitled Piano Nocturnes.
Tickets cost £12/£10 per concert and will be available on the door or through the box office on tel: 9089 2707.
For information, visit www. belfastmusicsociety.org.
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