Champion targets Olympic glory

BOXING/ WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:Following victory at the World Championships, Katie Taylor tells Bernard O'Neillshe is hoping the IOC gives women's boxing the green light

KATIE TAYLOR wants to be given the opportunity to represent Ireland at the 2012 Olympics in London - but she will have to wait until next year to find out if the International Olympic Committee give women's boxing the green light for the 30th Olympiad.

The 22-year-old County Wicklow woman is now officially the best amateur female boxer after claiming lightweight gold and the boxer of the tournament award at the Fifth AIBA Women's World Championships in Ningbo City, China on Saturday after outclassing Cheng Dong of China in the 60Kg final, winning 13-2 after three two-minute rounds.

Taylor will be presented with her boxer of the tournament award at the World Cup in Moscow on December 12th where she will also be presented with the best boxer of 2008 award by World amateur boxing chiefs, AIBA.

Saturday's victory at the Ningbo Youngor Gymnasium maintains the Irish Amateur Boxing Association's remarkable sequence of having won medals at every tournament they have entered this year.

This includes the Olympic Games, the European Championships, the men's and women's EU Championships, the World Youth Championships and the European Schoolboy Championships, and now the Women's World Championships.

Uniquely, Ray Moylett, of the St Anne's club in Westport, won 60kg gold at the World Youth Championships in Mexico earlier last month and now Ireland's only two world champions in any sport are boxers - and both of them are lightweights.

Saturday's win arrived just a few months after Ken Egan was controversially edged out by Chinese light heavyweight Xiaoping Zhang in the Olympic final in Beijing. The Irish captain was beaten 11-7 by Zhang.

Taylor admits she was nervous about facing a Chinese fighter in China in a major final.

She said: "The Olympic final crossed my mind and I was thinking of Ken Egan as I believe he won that fight and that he should have won the gold medal in Beijing.

"I had the feeling that if I got to the final that I would meet the Chinese and that made me nervous, to tell the truth, because of the scoring in the Olympic final.

"But it all worked out fantastic in the end and the final was a lot easier than I thought it would be and maybe that's some payback for Irish boxing for the Olympic final."

However, Taylor, the reigning European and European Union lightweight champ, also admitted that she was feeling the weight of expectation in China.

She added. "A lot of people believe that all I have to do is show up for tournaments and I will win gold. But it is not as easy as that by many means.

"Women's boxing is very competitive and the standard is rising all the time and absolutely nothing can be taken for granted.

"But Saturday's final was a lot easier than I thought, although I couldn't believe how tall the Chinese girl was, she must have been a foot taller than me. Overall, I am very pleased with my performances at the World Championships, but I was unhappy with the refereeing in my 4-3 win over the Czech Republic boxer in the quarter finals.

"I thought that the refereeing in that contest was bad, to tell the truth, as I was given a public warning in the third round and I still don't know what it was for."

Meanwhile, Taylor is hoping the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will give women's boxing the green light to become an Olympic sport in 2012. And the 22-year-old believes that if the female version is sanctioned for London that the Chinese will be out in force.

"They had a great World Championships as they won four or five golds and I thought they deserved their wins also. They are now definitely one of the nations to beat and they will keep improving.

"To represent my country at the Olympic Games would be a dream come through and if I do get the opportunity I will be going for gold; to finish first is always my aim.Hopefully, the IOC will sanction it.

"I thought that women's boxing was going to be sanctioned for Beijing but it didn't happen and everyone involved with the sport was devastated.

"Now we are told that women's boxing will introduce in London in 2012, but I won't believe it until I see it officially in writing.

"I would like to dedicate Saturday's victory to my family and to everyone in Irish boxing that has helped and supported me down through the years.

"Saturday was a very proud moment for me. To stand on top of the podium and to hear the Irish national anthem is really special."

The Irish team, which also includes team manager Anna Moore, coach Peter Taylor, physio Yvonne Ryan and Fiona Hennigan (judge) are scheduled to arrive home through Dublin Airport via Paris at 8.15am this morning.

Taylor's path to gold

Preliminary Round: 60Kg: Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Emma Carruthers (Australia) 20-3.

Last 16: 60Kg: Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Danusa Dilhofova (Czech Republic) 4-3.

Quarter-Final: 60Kg: Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Peralta Celeste (Argentina) RSC1 RSC1 = (Ref Stops Contest Round 1- Taylor 10-1 up).

Semi-Final: 60Kg: Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Ayzznat Gadzhieva (Russia) 20-2.

Final: 60Kg: Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Cheng Dong (China) 13-2.