Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She is the undisputed and lineal world lightweight champion since 2019, and the undisputed and lineal world super lightweight champion since 2023.[2]
After winning the WBA lightweight title in 2017 and the IBF title the following year, her unification victory over Delfine Persoon in Madison Square Garden made her the eighth boxer in history (female or male) to hold all four major world titles in boxing—IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO—simultaneously. In November 2023 she repeated the feat, beating Chantelle Cameron in Dublin for the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC, and WBO titles, regaining the latter she initially won from Christina Linardatou in 2019.
In her amateur boxing career, Taylor won five consecutive gold medals at the Women's World Championships, gold six times at the European Championships, and gold five times at the European Union Championships. Hugely popular in Ireland, she is credited with raising the profile of women's boxing at home and abroad. Regarded as the outstanding Irish athlete of her generation,[3] she was the flag bearer for Ireland at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony before going on to win an Olympic gold medal in the lightweight division.[4]
Taylor turned professional in 2016 under Matchroom Boxing. As of March 2023, Taylor is ranked as the world's best active female lightweight by BoxRec[5] and the best active female boxer, pound-for-pound, by The Ring[6] and BoxRec.[7] She is known for her fast-paced, aggressive boxing style, as well as her controversial use of head-butting.[8]
And of course you're not missing anything when watching Katie Taylor either: you forget about the power deficit when she is in the ring because, as has often been said about the champ, she hits like a man.