Croke Park Katie Taylor trilogy talk and a masterclass in the craft of boxing

Talk immediately turned to what’s next for Katie Taylor. Yet there is also a welcome opportunity to press pause.
Croke Park Katie Taylor trilogy talk and a masterclass in the craft of boxing

JOB DONE: Katie Taylor celebrates with mother Bridget Taylor after defeating Chantelle Cameron in their undisputed super lightweight championship fight at the 3Arena in Dublin. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

There was a revealing moment at the end of Saturday night’s eighth round where all the smoke that often emanates from this trade cleared and we received a clear vision of what Katie Taylor really is.

Together Taylor and Chantelle Cameron played an awesome battle ballad that had the entire 3Arena humming tumultuously. As they approached the final stanza the Irish challenger looked exhausted. It had been a masterclass of ring craft by the Irish woman, quick counters and spinout hooks stemming a younger volume-puncher. Cameron’s spirit is such that her onslaught may be delayed but it would not be denied. By the eighth she was charging like a bull. The home crowd sensed it too and offered a volley of Olés as a makeshift shield to their warrior.

Taylor, 37 years old and lacking comparable power, had to get back to what was working. Box and move. Cameron came with a left hook and was met with a clinch. When she stepped forward again, Taylor stung with a right cross flush to the chin. The Irish hero then planted her feet in centre ring, slipped the jab and traded leather with a venomous one-two combination. Cue another seat-rattling roar. Cameron was forced to resort to a gentle hook after the bell as some sort of response.

What a war. At once we saw how all the frustration and speculation of the last six months had been channelled and why the Bray boxer badly wanted this bout. She is now a two-weight undisputed champion.

All of it made sense. The deep aggravation that she was somehow being doubted. An obvious frustration at endless questions about retirement. The limited media dealings in response to it. Taylor would express herself in the environment where she feels most comfortable. On an illuminated canvas enclosed by four ropes. Every emperor has its realm.

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She is, above all else, a fighter. A woman destined to articulate her class through expertly refined violence. This is where she belongs. Home is where the heart is and in the middle of the 8,000 adoring fans, Taylor displayed all of hers.

Her reward was redemption in the form of a justified decision. It was scored 98-92, 96-94 while the third judge had it as a 95-95 draw. Talk immediately turned to what’s next. Her own camp, her emotional post-fight interview, helped instigate that. A trilogy, Croke Park, another summit to be conquered.

Yet there is also a welcome opportunity to press pause. Time now to bask in the glory. Not because Taylor is in anyway underappreciated; this is after all an icon who has been named the most admired Irish sports star for six years in a row. But because in doing so we can garner a little more understanding of her career. How it has and how it should be framed.

So much of her storied time in the paid ranks has been defined by where she came from or what is next. An illustrious past bled into a breathtaking future. Everyone is familiar with that path, the trail blazed. Only a select few truly appreciate her precise position on it.

The story seems like one of people, overwhelmingly men, telling her what to do. Generally it comes from a good place. They think they know best. Not allowed to box. Not able to compete at the Olympics. Not possible to forge it as a pro. Not enough selling power. Not sufficient quality opponents. Not to continue.

Ask any writer on the Irish women’s beat and they’ll readily acknowledge that question about hanging up the gloves has been asked in every single possible shape and size. Over and over again, mysteriously expecting different results. In the face of that maybe Taylor felt she had two choices: fewer interviews or insanity.

In actuality, it is not a story of being told what to do. It is about defiance in the face of it. Above all else, Taylor became the face of this sport thanks to her iron will. It has forged an all-time great Irish sporting figure. She knows that better than anyone. That has to count for something.

In 2019 I interviewed Taylor’s trainer Ross Enamait, a self-confessed boxing nerd. The Connecticut-based coach is a historian of the sport. In the aftermath of Taylor’s straightforward triumph over Christiana Linardatou, Enamait could not disguise his exasperation with the opposition corner. Their fighter was getting frustrated and they kept bellowing hollow noise. ‘Maybe that is not the answer,’ he said. She needed to be dialled down rather than up. Stop head hunting because you are missing. Use bodywork to slow Katie’s legs down. Think about this.

“When Roger Mayweather said, 'most people don’t know shit about boxing', he was on to something,” he concluded.

Last Saturday, when Enamait climbed the steps and arrived in the press conference room just after midnight, he was wearing a t-shirt sporting Mayweather’s face and the same quote. Then somebody asked about his fighter’s renewed motivation coming off the back of her first-ever defeat.

“She is always motivated,” he replied with a shrug. “Katie has beat girls with a torn calf, she has had things that have happened that she's had to work around.

"Her motivation never wavered and she always works hard. She has had some situations in her career where no-one knew about it, she wasn't 100% and she still went in there and busted her ass. She was healthier and was able to train properly and that is the result.”

Simple. Perhaps it is now time to accept that. The vast majority have known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns. If they were more willing to divulge information about evident injuries it would clarify certain performances were due to damage, not natural decline. That perceivable excuse-making has never been her style.

The inside of the empire is different. Taylor is surrounded by a talented and caring team. She enjoys a special bond with her trainer. Her mother stood by her side as the scorecard was read out. Her manager Brian Peters was arguably the first successful promoter in this country. Eddie Hearn, even with all the ego, has helped change her life.

A career day in Croke Park remains remote. Nothing new there. She has heard it all before. Yet Taylor is in a place where she has earned the right to persevere on her own terms. This can’t go on forever, but she knows that best. That is why she is the best.

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