Katie Taylor believes tough scrap is perfect build-up to Olympic final rematch

Showing her bloody-minded streak in the Halla Gymnasium in Jeju, Katie Taylor decided to go off message. Late in the afternoon session the defending world champion faced a charging Mira Potkonen and on the spur of the moment decided to dispense with her corner's advice and go toe to toe with the Finnish boxer.

She didn’t move to avoid the attack. She didn’t feint or side step her opponent, who came to the ring with a physical game and war on her mind. She stood there in the second round with Potkonen, who she had beaten before in a match at Ballywaltrim in Bray, and opened up.

The solo run from his daughter brought a wry smile to the face of Pete Taylor as well as a glimmer of pride in that she stubbornly refused to back away from a brawl despite the inherent danger.

But the result of the Finn's attitude and Taylor's ability to go physical when required produced one of the best lightweight bouts so far, with Taylor winning unanimously to set up a quarter-final meeting with Russia's Sofya Ochigava in the early hours of Friday morning, a rematch of the gold-medal bout from the London Olympics.

“I think she won each round clearly. I wasn’t worried at all,” said Pete.

Because of the lack of seeding, the AIBA now probably have their final half-way through the tournament. They are the first and second ranked boxers in the world and few would bet against the 2014 world champion emerging from that pairing.

Ochigava will not be a bash, wallop affair. The counter punching southpaw has already shown in her previous three fights that going to war isn’t part of her arsenal, although yesterday she limped rather than sprinted into the next round, a split decision falling the way of the Russian in her match with Brazil’s Adriana dos Santos.

But most people will remember London, where Taylor says she did not fight her best. It was tense and close but Taylor in Korea is still the boxer other teams turn out to watch. She is the top dog.

“Every time I’ve boxed that girl, it has been a physical battle,” she said of her win over Potkonen. “I was well prepared but it’s great to get a really hard bout, that is what you need in the tournament. It will stand to me tomorrow to have that under my belt, very physical it was but I knew that.

“Yeah I beat her in Bray . . . I was supposed to move quite a bit but . . . I suppose it was a bit of a war. I knew what to expect from her. My dad said she was going to rush me for the four rounds and she did.

“Everyone thinks they can outfight me. But I always come out on top of these battles. I’m very fit. I just thank God for another victory.”

Potkonen’s intentions were clear from the bell. But Taylor’s speed and reflexes had the Finn swirling in the air as the champions jab and backhand landed. Taylor did take some tame shots but she was landing so often on her opponent the gap was widening as the fight progressed.

“The idea was to move around for the first minute and a half of each round and then push her back for the last 30 seconds,” added Pete. “But Katie likes to have a bit of a battle.”

Potkonen’s best chance arrived at the start of the second round where she lurched at Taylor and had her tied to the ropes. But the danger was relative and the normal tempo of the Olympic champion with her punishing combinations brought the contest to a close.

Taylor did, uncharacteristically, hit the canvas in the fourth round.

“Definitely a slip. Definitely a slip,” she protested. “You’d have to hit me with a hammer for me to go down.”

Katie Taylor fights is the fifth bout of the afternoon quarter-final session in Korea. The session gets underway at 5.0am Irish time and she is expected in the ring between 5.30am and 6.0am Irish time. Johnny Watterson’s report from Jeju will appear on www.irishtimes.sport