Katie Taylor: “I Want To Leave a Legacy”
Katie Taylor (15-0, 6 KOs) has established quite a bit during her relatively short professional career. Having ascended the ranks in women’s boxing to the point that she’s now the undisputed women’s world lightweight champion, Taylor is regarded by observers as one of the top 5 women’s boxers in the world.
The 33-year-old from Bray, Ireland is far from satisfied, feeling there’s much more to accomplish. As she explained during an interview with Sky Sports, her mission now is to establish herself as one of the true greats in the sport.
“It’s all about legacy for me. I want to leave a great legacy, I want to be involved in the best fights.
Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Ken Norton. These are legendary fights and these guys go down as legends of the sport. That’s the sort of legacy I want to leave.”
From featherweight up through welterweight, women’s boxing boasts a litany of outstanding fighters. Among them are Delfine Persoon, undisputed world women’s welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus and WBO women’s world Featherweight champion Amanda Serrano, who is Taylor’s next scheduled opponent. Fighting them all is very important to the women’s world lightweight champ.
“I’m fighting Serrano next. There has been talk of me fighting Braekhus, and the Persoon rematch is very important. I’d be happy to fight those three next.
They are huge fights and I want to be involved in the best fights possible. We are all still in our primes. That’s what makes these mega-fights so special.”
CLEAN-UP DUTY
If there is a bit of an asterisk on Taylor’s career, it is her June 2019 fight against Persoon. Taylor, who won by hotly disputed majority decision, was given a very rough and tough go by Persoon. Many observers on the night felt Persoon did enough to deserve the nod and that the Irish woman was lucky to leave the ring with her hand raised in victory.
Taylor told Sky Sports she wants to run it back against Persoon. She felt she had a bad night and admits the decision could’ve gone either way. However, she wants to show and prove in a rematch and leave no doubt she deserved the win.
To establish herself as an ATG (All-Time Great) fighter, Taylor has to not only fight but defeat fighters in and around her division.
Luckily for her, she is a competing in an era and weight-range where there’s no shortage of excellent fighters and possible great match-ups. So the opportunity is certainly within grasp for the women’s star from Ireland achieve her goal of reaching true boxing greatness.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
