Katie Taylor tonight

yomchi

Katie Taylor is defending her european title tonight:

From RTE sport

Ireland's Katie Taylor will meet Hrtistina Athanasopoulou as she begins the defence of her European lightweight title she has won for the last two years in Vejle, Denmark on Tuesday evening.

Athanasopoulou is not ranked in the top 15 in the world or Europe and Taylor, ranked
number one in both categories, will be favourite to advance.

Fourteen boxers have entered the 60kg Division, including Turkey's Gulsum Tatar, England's Anastasia Cousins, France's Cindy Orain and Finland's Eva Wahlstrom, all of whom Taylor has beaten in the past.

However, Russia's Ayzanat Gadzhieva remains an unknown quantity ahead of the Championships, which conclude next Sunday.


Meanwhile, the Irish Amateur Boxing Association will hold a press conference at the National Stadium in Dublin today at 2.30pm.


The press conference will announce details of Ireland's participation in the AIBA World Championships and Olympic qualifiers, which begin at the University of Illinois in Chicago on 23 October

Best of luck to her

Big Ears

Anyone know if she has any ambition to turn pro , she certainly has the skill to be one of the most successful woman boxers of all time and considering she is quite popular already in this country I'm sure the likes of Brian Peters would only be delighted to promote her and have her as Ireland's(female) answer to Amir Khan(only she has achieved more in the amateurs than he did and would be a more successful pro) .

I could easily see her replicate what Regina Halmich has done over in Germany .
Anyway best of luck to Katie tonight and hopefully she can regain her crown .

Reading her wikipedia entry it appears she has been capped 3 times by the Republic of Ireland women's soccer team !

megadodge

and have her as Ireland's(female) answer to Amir Khan(only she has achieved more in the amateurs than he did and would be a more successful pro) .

Far be it for me to try changing the focus of this thread as I'm a big admirer of Katie's skill and achievments, it's just that I've had enough of all the absolute nonsensical Amir Khan bashing that is so prevalent in the last year or so.

There was even a letter in this week's Boxing News castigating him as being nothing other than an "overrated amateur" with the writer classing that genuinely overrated and overprotected Kevin Mitchell as a better talent.

So, winning absolutely everything he ever entered at schoolboy and youth level (internationals etc.), walking the European and World Junior championships being voted Best Boxer in both, hammering a Cuban in the World final (in Cuba) who has since gone on to establish himself as the No. 1 Senior Amateur in the world, easily qualifying for the Olympics in the hardest-to-qualify region, winning Best Boxer yet again in that tournament, actually going all the way to the final in the Olympics (scoring the only genuine stoppage of the whole games) only to lose to a brilliant and vastly more experienced reigning champ who had won all round him for the preceding 5+ years regularly being voted Best Boxer (including the World Championships in Belfast 2001).... and all this at MERELY 17 F*CKING YEARS OF AGE !!!

Forgive me for being curious, but if that's "overrated" I'd absolutely love to see what's regarded as not !!!

And how the hell does anyone know yet what he's going to achieve as a pro ?
He's still only 20.

Big Ears

megadodge wrote: »

Far be it for me to try changing the focus of this thread as I'm a big admirer of Katie's skill and achievments, it's just that I've had enough of all the absolute nonsensical Amir Khan bashing that is so prevalent in the last year or so.

There was even a letter in this week's Boxing News castigating him as being nothing other than an "overrated amateur" with the writer classing that genuinely overrated and overprotected Kevin Mitchell as a better talent.

So, winning absolutely everything he ever entered at schoolboy and youth level (internationals etc.), walking the European and World Junior championships being voted Best Boxer in both, hammering a Cuban in the World final (in Cuba) who has since gone on to establish himself as the No. 1 Senior Amateur in the world, easily qualifying for the Olympics in the hardest-to-qualify region, winning Best Boxer yet again in that tournament, actually going all the way to the final in the Olympics (scoring the only genuine stoppage of the whole games) only to lose to a brilliant and vastly more experienced reigning champ who had won all round him for the preceding 5+ years regularly being voted Best Boxer (including the World Championships in Belfast 2001).... and all this at MERELY 17 F*CKING YEARS OF AGE !!!

Forgive me for being curious, but if that's "overrated" I'd absolutely love to see what's regarded as not !!!

And how the hell does anyone know yet what he's going to achieve as a pro ?
He's still only 20.

I wasn't downplaying Khan's amatuer achievements , I'm just saying we've got someone on our hands who's achieved more than he has in the amateurs(which is the truth) and that seeing as Women's boxing is a lot weaker that she could go one to become one of the greatest womans boxers ever .

Now sorry for me to be pessimistic but I just don't believe Amir Khan will be one of the greatest Male boxers ever . I believe his chin and his defense are quite vulnerable and although he has an offensive meaning he is capable of beating World class fighter he is still(imo) capable of losing to fighter below World level .

I think Khan would/will stop Graham Earl easily , however I would give Jon Thaxton a more than 50% chance of beating Khan(only by stoppage , he hasn't the skill to outpoint him) and I would be extremely confident Yuri Romanov would destroy Khan .

Now that's things as they are currently , however in the mean time Khan can improve his defense, not leaving himself so open to right hands and having more lateral movement as he goes in to punch guys backed up on the ropes would be two massive improvements .Despite him being quite slick I feel he is too upright and unless these defensive problems are rectified he will have trouble getting to European level .

His chin however is something you can't fix , he's going to have to take hard shots when he gets to World level and I'm just not sure he can deal with them .

Now you might be able to come up with an argument to prove a lot of what I said incorrect or at least state in your opinion it is , but unless you believe he can be one of the greatest male boxers of all time my original point will stand .

Dodge

Big Ears wrote: »

Anyone know if she has any ambition to turn pro

I've heard she's hoping to stay amateur IF women's boxing is admitted to the 2012 Olympics.

She's played more than 3 times for the national football side too

walshb

Taylor won he first fight comfortably and is on again tomorrow.
She is a real star and not just in boxing.

Khan is a star and what he achieved in his short amateur career is spectacular.
I can't think of any Irish amateur in HISTORY that could have beat Amir
at 60kgs. He was a real real talent and had he been a couple of years older, I think he would have been unbeatable by any version of Kindelan...

But Big ears has a valid point concerning his suspect chin. I hope it proves a one off, because offensively he is a force and if he can take a whack I see him becoming a major boxing superstar!!!

nacho libre

As i said before Thaxton will probably knock Khan out when they meet.

cowzerp

nacho libre wrote: »

As i said before Thaxton will probably knock Khan out when they meet.

Im going to laugh out loud here! dont think so..

nacho libre

cowzerp wrote: »

Im going to laugh out loud here! dont think so..

if i'm wrong forget i ever posted this:)

megadodge

Big Ears, I was not making a comparison between Katie Taylor and Khan !
What I was doing was trying to throw some perspective on the whole "Khan is just another overhyped Brit" train of thought that seems to have surfaced and gathered quite a lot of momentum in the last year or so.

There is most definitely a doubt over Khan's chin now considering it was a non-puncher that floored and hurt him. It would be foolish to deny that, however two other amateur superstars (Ali and Leonard) received serious criticism after being floored/hurt and unimpressive in some of their pre-championship days also and they went on to great things. And if you're the sort that's going to reply with "I can't believe you're comparing..." well yes, I am comparing them in terms of ability for their age and I think Khan matches up quite well actually.

In terms of achievments, well obviously we'll have to wait and see.

Thaxton will not beat Khan.
It won't even be close.
I fancy Khan to stop him late or win a very wide UD.

MBC

Katie won again and is into the Finals were she meets a Swiss opponent. Well Done to her.......she is doing really well.

yomchi

Yeh roll on Saturday night. This girl is special

efb

Irish World and back-to-back European lightweight champion Katie Taylor was crowned European 60Kg
champion for the third year on the trot following an emphatic inside the distance victory over Sandra Brugger in Vejle Denmark this afternoon.

Taylor, from the St Fergal's club in Bray County Wicklow, stopped her Swiss opponent on the 15 point rule
in round two to claim an historic third gold medal in a row for Ireland.

The 15 point rule obliges the referee to stop a contest automatically (except in the final round) once a boxer gains a fifteen point advantage.Women's bouts last for three two minute rounds.

Taylor, who was 8-0 up at the bell for the end of the first round, admitted that her win hasn't sunk in yet.

She said: "It will probably take a while for it to sink in. I am over the moon with the victory and I would like to thank everyone for all the support I have received out here this week."

Taylor's coach and dad, Peter Taylor, was also thrilled with the win.

He said: "I think the final score speaks for itself and you can't do any better than that to tell the truth.
Katie boxed exceptionally well out here all week and she has only conceded four points throughout the tournament which is a fantastic achievement."

"It is a very proud achievement to have won this title three times in a row and we are absolutely thrilled."

Taylor, who is a member of the Irish Amateur Boxing Associations High Performance Unit, registered an
amazing 49 points in her four fights in Denmark and conceded just four.

The 21 year old Irish woman, ranked number one in the World and Europe, is also in the running for the boxer of the tournament award at the 6th Women's European Championships in Denmark. The award winner will be announced later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Taylor is due to arrive home from Denmark via Dublin Airport tomorrow (Sunday October 21st) at 4pm.

yomchi

Good stuff!!

sligobhoy67

womens boxin!:( please lock this thread!

Big Ears

Congratulations to here , conceding only 4 points in the tournament is an amazing feat .

Now the current World Champion and European champion(for the third year running) , can't ask for much more than that .

She really could do something special if she went pro .

yomchi

sligobhoy67 wrote: »

womens boxin!:( please lock this thread!

Try see past the gender and focus on the sport. An Irish girl has just achieved great things.. again.

Fair play to her and her coaching team

efb

sligobhoy67 wrote: »

womens boxin!:( please lock this thread!

comment almost as churlish as your handle...:rolleyes:

walshb

Congrats to Katie. An amazing win.
I saw very brief highlights and the
fight was fierce looking with the
Swiss opponent dishing out every
bit as much as she was getting.
The computer scoring is a disgrace IMO.
Taylor was the better fighter, but the scoring
was way too flattering, as it has been ever since
its induction

Dodge

walshb wrote: »

Congrats to Katie. An amazing win.
I saw very brief highlights and the
fight was fierce looking with the
Swiss opponent dishing out every
bit as much as she was geting.
The computer scoring is a disgrace IMO.
Taylor was the better fighter, but the scoring
was way too flattering, as it has been ever since
its induction

I've never seen the rightful winner lose...

megadodge

I've never seen the rightful winner lose...

I agree (well, nearly always).
Nothing pissed me off more in the old days than seeing a skillful boxer outbox, outthink and outmanouvre another, only to lose the decision because the other boxer was "making the fight" ie. moving forward getting hit.

The computer system is not perfect, but in general it gets the right winner more often than the old system.

walshb

I am not doubting that. Usually the winner does get the NOD, but my gripe is that there are far too many contests where both boxers give it their absolute all and are toe to toe
and then the scores arrive with one fighter barely registering a score. That's what irritates me so much. To see a fighter put in so much effort and then to barely get a point is disgraceful. Take a look at Egan losing by RSCO2 to a Russian fighter in the 2006
Europeans. The fight was close but Egan was NOT getting scores. The judges couldn't STOP themselves scoring for the Russian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh2rJobAfMc

I'm almost sure the fighter is Russian?

megadodge

Just looked at that fight and have to say Egan was well beaten. I honestly didn't think the fight was close after the first half of the first round.

I will say that I vehemently disagree with the 15/20 point rule. There's always the chance of a KO !

walshb

megadodge wrote: »

Just looked at that fight and have to say Egan was well beaten. I honestly didn't think the fight was close after the first half of the first round.

I will say that I vehemently disagree with the 15/20 point rule. There's always the chance of a KO !

I also thought Egan was being beaten, but not in the fashion that the judges thought. Not CLOSE!!!!!

cowzerp

Dodge wrote: »

I've never seen the rightful winner lose...

You've got to be joking? i outboxed david joyce in the leinster finals a few years ago and he was giving the fight by 1 point(nobody in the stadium thought he won, and in the all ireland semi's i had a similar fight where i won all 4 rounds well and also lost by 1 point, i seen the dodgy judgeing card 4 out of 5 judges gave me all rounds by good margins and 1 gave opposite scores, barely pressed the buttons for me meaning i had 4 judges scoring me while he had 5) and all the people in the stadiums backing, he easily won the final then(i count that as mine ) Boxing is terrible for bad decisions(amateur and pro) and the computer scoring the worst as it relies on all judges been very quick to press and its to easy to watch 1 opponent if you are more aware of him-dunne used to always gain more points than he should of been getting and this was because they where watching him more than the opponent..PS. well done Katie

Dodge

cowzerp wrote: »

You've got to be joking? i outboxed david joyce in the leinster finals a few years ago

In my defence I didnt see that fight.

Kanned

Ive heard alot about this female boxer and wonder if there is any chance of seeing her box online? Her record has impressed me and made me curios to what kind of boxer she is. Technical, strong or just determined? If she is that good someone must have posted a video of her!!

megadodge

I haven't been able to find anything on Youtube, which is surprising, because if you wanted to teach somebody to box (male or female) getting them to watch Katie Taylor would be a very good starting point.

She is extremely skillful, very fast, intelligent, good power, has brilliant footwork, always seems to be in excellent condition which obviously points towards excellent discipline and determination, obviously has plenty of confidence, etc.etc.

She's easily the best female boxer I've seen - amateur or pro.

sligobhoy67

efb wrote: »

comment almost as churlish as your handle...:rolleyes:

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz!!!!

Womens boxing and womens Gaelic football - they both make me cringe! :eek:

megadodge

Sligobhoy, have you seen Katie Taylor box ?

She regularly spars with the senior champions from Athy - yes that's men's SENIOR Irish champions, and by all accounts holds her own.

As for ordinary women boxing, one thing for sure is that they'll give it 100% and very often the women's fight is as good a fight as there is on the card for pure action.

And that's coming from a fella who hates Political Correctness.

walshb

I have to agree. Taylor is a real quality act....
I'm not a fan of womens soccer or basketball or camogie etc, but
Taylor is special in the world of boxing and I am sure there
are other great women fighters thru the weights

sligobhoy67

megadodge wrote: »

Sligobhoy, have you seen Katie Taylor box ?

She regularly spars with the senior champions from Athy - yes that's men's SENIOR Irish champions, and by all accounts holds her own.

As for ordinary women boxing, one thing for sure is that they'll give it 100% and very often the women's fight is as good a fight as there is on the card for pure action.

And that's coming from a fella who hates Political Correctness.

I havent seen her fight and I will fortunately never see her fight - sure me retina would burn out if I ever saw it.

Big Ears

sligobhoy67 wrote: »

I havent seen her fight and I will fortunately never see her fight - sure me retina would burn out if I ever saw it.

Let me tell you something Sligobhoy , Katie is a seriously good fighter.........and I mean fighter not just female fighter . She is so technically sound , quick , great reflexes and with good power too .

Womens boxing as a whole is generally quite poor , but there are a few gems and for me she is the best of the lot . That's why I asked if she had any ideas of turning pro , I think she could be one of if not the best female boxer ever .
A bold claim I know but a serious one .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxHsa-IvjrU
That is frightening power for a woman...........although Ann Wolfe may indeed be a man

NaFianna

She's a great little fighter

wardyeire

just watched that clip what a right hand!!!!!!:eek: