For the first time as a professional boxer, Katie Taylor will step out of the bowels of 3Arena on Saturday night in Dublin. Maybe it’ll all hit her then — the enormity of what she’s done for boxing in Ireland, and for women’s boxing in total.
Knowing Taylor, it probably won’t show on her face, but perhaps there will be a glimmer. Since turning pro, Taylor has wanted to return to Ireland for a fight and allow the fans in her birthplace, where she’s a massive star, to see her compete as a champion. But for years it seemed unlikely.
At age 15, Taylor fought in the first sanctioned women’s amateur fight in Ireland. Now, at age 36, after hundreds of amateur fights and 22 professional ones, she’ll be back in one of the biggest professional fights the country has seen. Taylor, the undisputed lightweight champion, will face Chantelle Cameron for Cameron’s undisputed junior welterweight championship in one of the biggest fights of the year.
