Irish Olympic hero Katie Taylor is preparing to enter the ring again to fight Maike Klueners on 24 February.
Irish Olympic hero Katie Taylor is preparing to enter the ring again to fight Maike Klueners on 24 February.
The bout will be a small taste of a series of contests Taylor will fight between 17 and 22 March on her ‘Road to Rio’ tour.
Taylor stood atop Ireland’s pride following the 2012 Olympics in which she took home Ireland’s only gold of the games, and was recently named RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year.
The fight against Klueners will take place in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre at Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock. Taylor previously defeated German champion Klueners in an exhibition bout in April 2011.
Irish support has been overwhelming for the country’s newest sporting superstar as all 2,100 tickets for the fight sold out within a minute of release.
Such frenzy for Taylor prompted her to set up another fight at the same location on 22 March against scheduled opponent Yulia Tsiplakova.
Between these two bouts, Taylor will travel to Belfast on St Patrick’s Day to compete in an official international match between Ireland and Russia that continues the next day in Dublin.
Taylor said she is excited to return to the ring in her home country following her accomplishments in London at the Olympics.
“It’s great to have a date to focus on now,” she said, “And it will be great to box at home as an Olympic champion.”
It will surely be a challenging month for the Olympic, European and world champion given the number of fights – four in less than a month, and three of them within six days of each another.
But a difficult schedule is nothing new to Taylor. She earned her gold medal by winning three fights in just four days during the Olympics, coming from behind in the gold medal bout to secure the victory.
Taylor enters 2013 ranked number one in the world for the seventh straight year, and there is no reason to fear that her successes will begin to shy away from her. Indeed, winning Olympic gold has seemingly managed to motivate Taylor further. And her first fight as an Olympic champion in Ireland will surely produce similar results.
“I was humbled by all the people who came over to support me in London,” said the Bray native. “It felt like the Irish fans took over the arena for my fights so it’s great now that people will have a chance to see me on home soil taking on world-class opposition.”
Taylor has interestingly decided to remain among the amateur ranks instead of turning professional, despite her impressive successes. Instead, her sights are firmly set on defending her Olympic title in Rio three years from now.
“I’m still only 26 and I feel I have things to prove and things to achieve in the sport,” she said. “I’m constantly learning in the gym and looking to improve.
“I’ve always set myself goals and I want to retain that Olympic title in Rio in 2016 and retain my European and world titles as well, so I’m hungrier than ever to keep improving.”
