WORLD BEATER
Katie Taylor wins title with a dominant performance
THE remarkable Katie Taylor continues to inspire and astound as she plants Co. Wicklow on the map once again.
Bray’s heroine landed the latest incredible milestone of her stunning career as she secured her first every professional world title.
Taylor added the WBA Lightweight belt to her collection of an Olympic gold medal, five World Championships, six European Championships, five EU Championships and a European Games gold medal – and she’s not finished yet.
Her pursuit for dominance already has its next target: ”I want to unify the division and there are some great champions out there who I would like to fight”, Taylor revealed.
And the prospect of a title defence in Dublin seems viable which will be music to the ears of her legions of Irish followers and fanatics.
Taylor clinched victory on Saturday at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on a unanimous decision with all three judges awarding her the contest 90-99.
A title defence in December had been in the offing but a cut sustained during the fight has extinguished those hopes.
Katie Taylor fell short at the Olympics in Brazil last year.
She returned home without a single victory to show for her efforts and there were worries that she, one of the greatest Irish sportspeople of all time, could be in decline.
How wrong we were. Taylor has once again stolen the hearts of a nation as she yet again rammed home justification for turning pro.
Taylor may be 31 now but she proved over 10 two-minute rounds on Saturday that there will be many, many more memorable nights in her marvellous career.
We may never see the likes of her again.
She is, quite simply, an as- tonishing athlete and should be heroized.
A young girl with a dream from a small town in County Wicklow has taken on the world and has mastered it.