Who Is Katie Taylor? Women Boxing’s First True Star

Have you found yourself looking at this weekend’s boxing bouts and asking yourself: Who is Katie Taylor?

Katie Taylor heads into her light-welterweight title fight with Chantelle Cameron at the weekend with revenge on her mind. The Irishwoman lost for the first time ever in her professional career to Cameron back in May and she’s looking to put the record straight against the English fighter.

Ahead of this mouth-watering clash, we break down Katie Taylor’s bio, with everything you need to know about the champion’s background and career so far.

Who Is Katie Taylor?

Bray superstar Taylor is one of the most famous and best female boxers in the history of the sport. She first shot to prominence at the 2012 Olympics, when boxing was introduced for women at the Games for the first time.

Taylor was the flagbearer for Ireland at the opening ceremony and went on to win the country’s first gold for women’s boxing in London.

Ahead of her quarter-final fight with Natasha Jonas, the Ireland fans were responsible for the loudest recorded audience at the 2012 games. 

Katie Taylor’s Professional Career

Taylor signed for Matchroom Boxing in 2016, and made her debut at Wembley Arena. 

She won four times in the first five months of her professional career, picking up her first title by defeating Nina Meinke for the WBA female Inter-continental lightweight title, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight world title showdown with Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium. The fight also served as a final eliminator for the WBA lightweight title.

The Olympic gold medalist went on to capture that title, her first world gold at the Principality Stadium in October 2017.

"𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝙳𝙽𝙰" @KatieTaylor

Arguably the biggest fight of Katies career this Saturday – looking forward to being there for it 🇮🇪🇬🇧#CameronTaylor2 @DAZNBoxing @MatchroomBoxing pic.twitter.com/izr4BPExSA

— Adam Vessey (@AdamVessey) November 20, 2023

Taylor defeated Anahi Ester Sanchez by unanimous decision after the Argentine had been forced to drop the title having failed to make weight. The Irish star added the IBF version of the world title by defeating Victoria Bustos in April 2018. She later added the WBC belt by beating Rose Volante in March 2019.

Taylor became only the eighth boxer in any gender to hold all four versions of the world title in any weight, when she defeated Delfine Persoon later that year.

The next fight in Katie Taylor’s bio saw her go up in weight to beat Christina Linardatou for the WBO light-welterweight title. She then defended the lightweight titles in a rematch against Persoon, and in five more fights.

Her 13th world title defence came in arguably the biggest fight in women’s boxing in history, as she faced American Amanda Serrano, in April 2022.

Despite being knocked down in the fifth round, Taylor was awarded the victory by split decision, following an extremely close fight. Sports Illustrated named it the Fight of the Year and the 10th round alone was an instant classic.

May this year saw Taylor lose for the first time since the Rio Olympics, with Cameron defending her undisputed super-lightweight titles. 

It was a homecoming fight for Taylor, who hadn’t fought in Ireland previously in her professional career but she unfortunately came up short.

Katie Taylor Controversy

Despite her amazing record in the ring, there have been some controversial points decisions in her career.

Most notably in the first fight with Persoon, with several former boxers saying they believed that Taylor had lost, including fellow Irish star Carl Frampton. 

The win over Serrano had promoter Jake Paul annoyed, and many others also felt the American won. That fight was the biggest in women’s boxing history, with the pair breaking $1 million purses for the first time.