Is the Katie Taylor thing overhyped ?

rocketed

I think Katie is a fantastic person and a great sportswoman ..i am delighted she won an olympic gold.and i know she have achieved at a very high level for a long time but in a sport that is really only starting with very few competitors.

The irish people were built up to this as it was obvious she was our best chance of an olympic gold medal.

In reality she is competing in a minority sport ..how many people seriously compete in womens boxing ? maybe 100 in ireland

Even mens boxing now is a minority sport but in competition i would say john joe nevin silver was greater.

Rory mc illroy being the world golf no 1 is much more difficult achievement.

He is maybe competing with 1000 top class players ...in women boxing maybe katie has 10 top class opponents.

I prefer boxing to golf.

walshb

When Rory dominates his sport like Katie has hers then I will consider. Katie competes with the possible millions and millions of opponents at this point in time. Not her fault that so so many don't have the talent and skill to get to her.
She is the best on this planet in her discipline. Numbers have nothing to do with it.

barney 20v

walshb wrote: »

When Rory dominates his sport like Katie has hers then I will consider. Katie competes with the possible millions and millions of opponents at this point in time. Not her fault that so so many don't have the talent and skill to get to her.
She is the best on this planet in her discipline. Numbers have nothing to do with it.

Walsh b ironic eh?....

walshb

barney 20v wrote: »

Walsh b ironic eh?....

Ironic? No getting it.

repsol

rocketed wrote: »

I think Katie is a fantastic person and a great sportswoman ..i am delighted she won an olympic gold.and i know she have achieved at a very high level for a long time but in a sport that is really only starting with very few competitors.

The irish people were built up to this as it was obvious she was our best chance of an olympic gold medal.

In reality she is competing in a minority sport ..how many people seriously compete in womens boxing ? maybe 100 in ireland

Even mens boxing now is a minority sport but in competition i would say john joe nevin silver was greater.

Rory mc illroy being the world golf no 1 is much more difficult achievement.

He is maybe competing with 1000 top class players ...in women boxing maybe katie has 10 top class opponents.

I prefer boxing to golf.

Katie can only beat what they put in front of her.Just because it is a minority sport in Ireland means nothing.She is an Olympic and World champ.She beat everyone,not just in the Olympics but in numerous World Championships.There is a pro circuit in other countries.She has been at the pinnacle of her sport for years.She is also a great example for her dedication and humbleness.Contrast her behaviour with that of Ken Egan.Like night and day. Katie Taylor is an Irish sports star.Rory Mcelroy cannot seem to decide whether he is British or Irish(my money is on British)

areyawell

walshb wrote: »

When Rory dominates his sport like Katie has hers then I will consider. Katie competes with the possible millions and millions of opponents at this point in time. Not her fault that so so many don't have the talent and skill to get to her.
She is the best on this planet in her discipline. Numbers have nothing to do with it.

You do realize that she is an amateur and doesn't want to go professional, so no, probably not the best in her discipline. Boxing is for amateur athletes in the Olympics

walshb

areyawell wrote: »

You do realize that she is an amateur and doesn't want to go professional, so no, probably not the best in her discipline. Boxing is for amateur athletes in the Olympics

I know this. She's "p4p" the best amateur boxer on earth. You do know that amateur and pro boxing are two different sports, right?

MD1990

walshb wrote: »

When Rory dominates his sport like Katie has hers then I will consider. Katie competes with the possible millions and millions of opponents at this point in time. Not her fault that so so many don't have the talent and skill to get to her.
She is the best on this planet in her discipline. Numbers have nothing to do with it.

Boxing is not that popular among women
it wasn't even in the Olympics before 2012
her achievement was very good but completly overhyped because no one else done great for Ireland in London

endswell

MD1990 wrote: »

Boxing is not that popular among women
it wasn't even in the Olympics before 2012
her achievement was very good but completly overhyped because no one else done great for Ireland in London

ye they all did shíte!

Henno30

Standard fare for successful Olympians. Look at the level of hype around the British athletes. I doubt women's boxing is any more of a minority sport than high-diving.

barney4001

Katie may be a bit over hyped but she has dominated her weight division completely this past 5 or 6 years and deserves all the plaudits and honours she gets and is a credit to the game

intellectual dosser

I wouldnt call it overhyped, and whatever hype is there is justified. No Irish person in recent years has made a greater sporting achievement. I don't know her bio inside out but she developed herself against the odds, with poor resources and poor facilities. Rory McIlroy for one wouldnt have had such substantial hills to climb.

Look beyond the Olympics, she's world champion year after year, a leader in her sport, and a perfect role model for young people with ambitions in sport.

Why knock such a good thing?

rocketed

I think Katie is brilliant and she has done all she can do ...sometimes the media are treating her like a bolt or a mesi and they are at totally different levels in much more competitive sports.

I think the problem in irish sport at the moment is that apart from the amateur boxers and golfers there are few people who are at the top level in their sport.

None of our soccer players currently are really top level ...no athletes at top level, no cyclists .

If you think of jacks soccer team we had 5/6 real top class players at that time , roche/Kelly , mc guigan , coghlan , sonia and Catherina mc kiernan

walshb

rocketed wrote: »

If you think of jacks soccer team we had 5/6 real top class players at that time , roche/Kelly , mc guigan , coghlan , sonia and Catherina mc kiernan

Well, from that list only Roche's triple crown in 1987 can compare to Katie's dominance and success. But, that was just one year. Roche did benefit from the absence of Greg LeMond in the 1987 TDF. Katie has been a world leader/beater fro many years now. She's top of the pile.

rocketed

All of those athletes operated in much more competitive sports than katie ..she is top of a small hill whereas roche (and there are questions about that special) , sonia o sullivan etc were at top of mountains.

It is a bit like comparing all ireland champions in GAA with world champions in soccer.

someone else said Mc Illroy had priveleged backgorund ..as far as i am aware his family worked in the golf club.

In boxing terms katie probably had a priveleged background ..her father was a coach and ran the club ....i would say john joe nevin had a lot more barriers to cross.

Any athlete competing at that level has to have phenomenal dedication and she is certainly exceptional in that she has done it for so long with such good behaviour but the point is that it is a sport with low participation base .....like high diving

walshb

rocketed wrote: »

All of those athletes operated in much more competitive sports than katie ..she is top of a small hill whereas roche (and there are questions about that special) , sonia o sullivan etc were at top of mountains.

It is a bit like comparing all ireland champions in GAA with world champions in soccer.

someone else said Mc Illroy had priveleged backgorund ..as far as i am aware his family worked in the golf club.

In boxing terms katie probably had a priveleged background ..her father was a coach and ran the club ....i would say john joe nevin had a lot more barriers to cross.

Any athlete competing at that level has to have phenomenal dedication and she is certainly exceptional in that she has done it for so long with such good behaviour but the point is that it is a sport with low participation base .....like high diving

In the beginning, yes, the comp level was not comparable. Now, and recently Katie has had the global eye on her. Many many many women from all corners of thre globe wanting to beat her. As good as some of the names were that you mention they are all a step behind Taylor.

CDM001

No way is she over hyped, she's won everything shes entered

MD1990

walshb wrote: »

In the beginning, yes, the comp level was not comparable. Now, and recently Katie has had the global eye on her. Many many many women from all corners of thre globe wanting to beat her. As good as some of the names were that you mention they are all a step behind Taylor.

for 1 month during 2012 she did
no many ppl care about the World Championships apart from hardcore boxing fans
i think some countries women are not even allowed box not completly sure about that though
her achievements are being overated because we had no other athletes doing anything in the Olympics

Syferus

I really have to question the knowledge of the original poster, the sad fact is these sorts of threads are almost always set up by people who either having at best passing knowledge of the sport a given athlete competes in and because that athlete's success and coverage in the media rubs them up the wrong way. The rest is usually after-the-fact reasoning to support an emotional point.

OP, would you be able to name the bronze medallists from Katie's weight class at the Olympics or the last WC? The nebulous manner of your criticisms of her sport (and for some reason boxing in general) make me believe the honest answer is no.

IrishAm

Henno30 wrote: »

Standard fare for successful Olympians. Look at the level of hype around the British athletes. I doubt women's boxing is any more of a minority sport than high-diving.

There is a difference though - without Katie, there would have been no womens boxing in London 12.

She made it happen.

walshb

MD1990 wrote: »

for 1 month during 2012 she did
no many ppl care about the World Championships apart from hardcore boxing fans
i think some countries women are not even allowed box not completly sure about that though
her achievements are being overated because we had no other athletes doing anything in the Olympics

Nonsense. Respectfully!

Katie has been a global name well before the games. Read about her.

How can you overrate a 4 time WC and a p4p best boxer for the past 5-6 years, who then wins the greatest amateur prize on earth? Almost 140 amateur fights with I believe 7 defeats, many dubious, and several avenged.

I have said it before, with us, when the real deal comes along we can't enjoy it.

barney4001

Katie won't be with us forever and winning titles,enjoy her while we have her as we may never see her like again

rocketed

How many women compete in amateur boxing in ireland ..only counting the number who have competed for at least a year ?

Similarly worldwide ..i think the numbers would be very low ..that is why the sport only got into the olympics in 2012 ..it is coming out of its infancy.

Even for Mens boxing it is a minority sport ..primarily in more deprived area but it has been around a long long time with many countries competing at a high level.

similarly i would question the rating of steve redgrave as greatest olympian of all time ..he was competing in sport that is elitist with a small base of participation.

This does not take away from katie achievements of dominating a sport with a very low participation base.

whether i know the name of the bronze medalist is irrelevant i am big sports fan for 40 years + ,been in the national stadium many times and at world amateur boxing in belfast and dublin.

(I actually saw john joe nevin win his first national title when gobs** were jeering him because of his evasive style ..which reflected their ignorance of amateur boxing)

darced

This post has been deleted.

areyawell

barney4001 wrote: »

Katie won't be with us forever and winning titles,enjoy her while we have her as we may never see her like again

Gaurunteed we will see an amateur athlete winning gold again. I would have bigger respect for someone trying to go professional and failing.

efb

Mmmm I smell troll...

endswell

areyawell wrote: »

Gaurunteed we will see an amateur athlete winning gold again. I would have bigger respect for someone trying to go professional and failing.

absolutely, just like my undying respect for fraudley

walshb

areyawell wrote: »

Gaurunteed we will see an amateur athlete winning gold again. I would have bigger respect for someone trying to go professional and failing.

Yes, and the likes of Savon and Stevenson are/were just average joes!:p

Katie is already a legend of her sport. She can retire now and nobody I can think of here in Ireland has been a bigger success and star at their chosen sport. Going pro wouldn't change my view one iota.

cowzerp

For the record, Katie beat the pro world champ when they fought.