Katie Taylor to hit ground running as she joins the professional ranks

The move from amateur to professional boxing has been swift for Ireland's best-known boxer Katie Taylor. And according to her camp, it is very much the beginning a new career rather than the end of an old one.

It is just over two months since the former lightweight world and Olympic champion fought at the Olympic Games in Rio in what was her disappointing last amateur bout as confirmation came yesterday that her move into professional boxing will tie her into Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.

Taylor still holds the European title she won two years ago in Bucharest for the sixth time in succession.

This year’s European championships are being staged next month in Sofia and she will not be taking part. And so Taylor’s extraordinary amateur career comes to a close.

It will be the first time in 11 years that the 30-year-old will not possess a European, world or Olympic title, or, as she did for almost four years, all three titles at the same time.

Her choice of manager in Brian Peters is also a canny decision. The Meath man helped Bernard Dunne become world champion in 2009. Dunne defeated Ricardo Cordoba in Dublin for the WBA Super bantamweight title and for a few colourful years made Dublin a thriving boxing city.

Taylor also fought that night on the undercard as an amateur.

“This is very exciting and it is important that Katie gets out there first,” said Peters. “And you know how Katie is, she didn’t want to hang around. She wanted to get going quickly because that’s the way she is.

"It's a good time too. Nicola Adams [double Olympic gold medallist at flyweight] is looking to go pro in the UK. Clarissa Shields [double Olympic gold medallists at middleweight] is turning pro in America."

Oscar de la Hoya, a 1992 Olympic gold medallist, as well as Floyd Mayweather and Bob Arum, all approached Shields, who won her second gold medal in Rio under the watchful eye of former Irish boxing head coach Billy Walsh.

Boundaries

“After London was not the right time to do this,” added Peters. “Now is the right time for women’s pro boxing. And look at the boundaries Katie pushed as an amateur.

“Obviously she is not going to have the usual four-year apprenticeship in the professional ranks. She could be fighting for a world title within 12 months, 15 months, if all goes well.”

Taylor’s debut fight will be at London’s SSE Arena in Wembley on November 26th and will be live on Sky Sports, which supported her as one of their ambassadors while she was an amateur.

She will also fight on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s second defence of his IBF world heavyweight title at the Manchester Arena on December 10th. That will be one of the biggest fights of the year in Britain.

Taylor, who is still training in the United States, will have to fast-track her transition and while no opponent has been announced for her opening fight, she will go in without a headguard for the first time and for longer than the four rounds of two minutes she has become used to in the amateur ranks.

It has been agreed that she will fight six rounds of two minutes in both bouts.

Taylor has always considered professional boxing as an option but in previous years was reluctant to take the plunge because defending her Olympic gold had become a priority.

The financial rewards in women’s pro boxing were not enough to tempt her away either, but Hearn, Peters and her team have clearly helped her change her mind on that.

Katie and her mother Bridget met with Hearn for the first time last week before Katie returned to America for her second stint of training.

“I met Katie for the first time last week and was fascinated by her desire to not just win world titles but to break down the barriers of women’s boxing. She is an incredible role model,” said Hearn.

There are currently four world title belts in the WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF at lightweight, which in professional boxing is 61.2 kg, slightly heavier than her 60kg weight limit in the amateur code.

As ever, she is not allowing herself to be hemmed in by narrow horizons and wants to rearrange the furniture in the professional game.

“Despite the last eight months having been unkind to her, she plans to get to the top and get there as fast as possible.

“To do the same for professional boxing as she did for amateur boxing would be an amazing thing to do,” says Peters.

“Initially we had her fighting in December but Katie was 80 per cent fit for this when she came back from Rio and is doing good training now.

Ball rolling

“At the moment we are just focused on these first two bouts to get the ball rolling. But once that’s done we hope to get her fighting in Europe, Scandinavia, in Dublin, in New York and in Vegas. We hope to get her fighting all over the world. It is very, very exciting.

“Because she is who she is and because of her huge recognition, we think she could engage a new generation of people in women’s professional boxing. It’s that simple and it’s that exciting.”

A first women’s professional boxing match live on Sky Sports – already a door has been kicked open.