Sport

Taylor back to her best with first-round stoppage

BOXING: IRISH lightweight Katie Taylor moved to within two fights of retaining her world 60kg title at the fifth Women's World…

Thu Nov 27 2008 - 00:00

BOXING:IRISH lightweight Katie Taylor moved to within two fights of retaining her world 60kg title at the fifth Women's World Championships in China following a first-round stoppage of two times Argentine national champion Celeste Peralta at the Ningbo Youngor Gymnasium in Ningbo City yesterday.

The Bray woman forced Peralta into two standing counts in the first frame before the South American was taken into protective custody by the referee with about 20 seconds to go to the bell - Taylor was 10-1 up when the bout was halted.

Taylor, who is now guaranteed at least a bronze medal, will face Ayzznat Gadzhieva of Russia in the semi-finals tomorrow morning two bouts away from successfully defending the title she won at the 2006 World Championships in New Delhi, India.

Peralta was one of the tallest boxers at the World Championships and was expected to cause Taylor problems yesterday. But the 22-year-old Irish fighter, who is also the reigning European and EU champion, was back to her devastating best and wants to cap an incredible year for Irish amateur boxing. She said: "Celeste was very tall and she has long arms and I was expecting a very tough fight, but I landed some good shots early on and I took it from there. I felt very sharp and my timing was good and everything flowed for me. I'm delighted with the win.

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"I think all my training at the National Stadium in Dublin in the lead up to these championships is now beginning to pay off and I'm feeling in top form and confident. I wouldn't like to make any predictions, but I came out here to try and retain my title and that has always been my aim.

"Tomorrow will be another challenge of me and the Russian is an experienced boxer."

Yesterday's victory maintains the Irish Amateur Boxing Association's remarkable sequence of having won medals at every international tournament entered this year.

This includes the Olympic Games, the World Youth Championships, the European Championships, the European Union Championships (men's and women's) - and now the Women's World Championships, to name but five.

Dong Cheng of China and Cindy Orain of France will contest the other 60kg semi-final. Today is a rest day at the event. The semi-finals and finals will be held tomorrow and Saturday.

Taylor, the only Irish boxer at the tournament, should be in the ring around 9.30am (Irish time) tomorrow morning. The women's senior bouts are contested over three, two-minute rounds.