Boxing Clever: Hot Press Interview with Katie Taylor

She’s won four World Championships, five Europeans, the Olympics and the love and respect of the Irish nation, but they’re small beer compared to what happened to Katie Taylor at approx. 10pm on November 15, 2013.

“I was at the Latvia game in the Aviva and afterwards got to meet Roy Keane who was one of my childhood heroes,” she beams. “His passion, determination and how he played were incredible. He was such a role model… maybe too big a one!”

What, did she storm out of gym class at school because there were no medicine balls?

“Instead of bending it like Beckham, I tackled like Keano and got red carded a few times!” laughs Taylor who won an FAI Women’s Cup Final with Peamount United and was an Ireland regular under Noel King. “I tried to make up for not being the most skilful player by making life difficult for my opponents. My goals were few and far between, but there’s one from outside the box against Switzerland I’m proud of and I'm really grateful that I got to play football at the top level.”

Was there a question she just had to ask Roy? “My mind went blank. My knees were gone weak and everything. He was just a complete gent and spent about half-an-hour giving me a bit of advice from his own career. He said there were times where he went too extreme and couldn’t enjoy it. That was the message really – make sure to enjoy your achievements. I’m delighted Roy’s back in the Ireland fold.” Roy wasn’t the only man who made Katie’s knees buckle last year.

“I met Daniel Day-Lewis at the Lincoln premiere in March. He’s one of the most humble people I’ve come across – really warm and friendly.”

Returning to footie, there was post-Olympics talk of Katie being offered a professional contract by Arsenal Ladies whose top players are reportedly on £1,500 a week.

“That much?” she proffers. “At the start of the Women’s Premier League it was something like £50 a game. I think they train daily like the men at Arsenal so it would need to be a liveable wage. Three of the girls I was in the Irish squad with – Emma Byrne, Yvonne Tracy and Niamh Fahey – are playing for them and a couple more are doing well in America. There were some bits in the paper about Arsenal making me an offer, but I never had any contact from them. I’d have been flattered if they had but would have said, ‘No’ because I’m 100% focused on my boxing at the moment.”

Does that 100% focus preclude having a relationship and starting a family? “Yeah, I’m not in the right place to start a relationship,” Katie confirms. “When I retire from the sport maybe. My priority at the moment is just boxing. Female athletes peak at 30 or 31, which is a bit later than the men – that’s what I’m saying anyway! I’m not going to get into the mindset of that whole over the hill thing. I don’t go out at the weekends and abuse my body or anything. I live a very disciplined life and I think you can have great longevity in your career once you do that. Just look at Ryan Giggs.”

Giggsy can still run around for 90 minutes, yeah, but I’m not sure his right-hook’s up to much. November’s two wins in 24 hours aside – Canada’s Caroline Veyre and Finn Mira Potkonen were dispatched with nary a bother – it was a quiet 2013 on the boxing front for Taylor.

“It was nice to reflect on things after the Olympics and not have to worry about a big competition. Well, it was for the first half of the year and then I was itching to get back into the ring.”

Katie was heaping praise there on Roy Keane, but she has sporting admirers of her own such as Donegal manager Jim McGuinness who talking to Hot Press recently said: “People like her are an inspiration. Last year when we were trying to win an All Ireland, I should’ve just shown the lads pictures of Katie and said, ‘Look at her, she’s locked on.’”

“He said that about me?” says Taylor turning a delicate shade of beetroot. “Wow, that’s nice to hear. I have the utmost respect for Jim. Great coach and a very clever man. I was in my own little bubble over in London so I didn’t really realise what was going on and the sort of impact it had on people. The stories they tell me about where they were watching the fight… the support really is incredible.”

I’ve been told by people who’ve met them both that Jim McGuinness and Katie’s trainer dad, Peter, are similar characters.

“He is like Jim in that he’s very scientific with his training programmes and plans everything down to the minutest detail. They’re big on psychology too. Boxing is very much a mental sport. If you don’t genuinely think you have the beating of your opponnent, you’re not going to win no matter how hard you prepare for the fight.”

Part of Jim’s philosophy – which worked wonderfully until an injury-ravaged 2013 for Donegal – is to make yourself seem so invincible that whoever you’re up against has lost the contest before they step onto the pitch. Or in Katie’s case, into the ring.

“A lot of the time they can but it works the other way as well because people can raise their game against you,” she reflects. “I’ve been involved in really tough fights where I’ve thought of my opponent, ‘Where did this performance come from?’ They either really step it up or go the other way and bottle it.”

The header on Taylor’s website proclaims: “London 2012 – Rio 2016: Watch The Journey Unfold.” To guarantee her seat on the plane to Brazil, she first has to retain her European and World Championship titles.

“It’s a huge deal defending those. I still have to qualify for Rio, which people don’t really realise. Doesn’t matter what I’ve done over the past few years. Your reputation doesn’t get you anywhere. I have to go and do well in those competitions.”

As someone who’s dedicated a substantial part of her life to winning Olympic gold, what does she make of calls for next month’s Winter Games in Russia to be boycotted in protest at the country’s anti-gay laws and treatment of dissidents like Pussy Riot?

“I don’t think it’s right for a country to say to its athletes, ‘You’re not going’ but if somebody felt strongly enough to make an individual stand, fair play to them. There shouldn’t be any barriers in sport – gay athletes should be treated just the same as straight ones.”

Katie underwent post-Olympics media training to deal with nosey journos like me asking awkward questions like that.

“I feel a bit out of my depth sometimes,” she admits. “I try and answer as honestly as possible, but often I don’t have a clue what they’re on about because I’m so wrapped up in my boxing.”

Katie’s hopeful that she won’t be the only Irish female competing in Brazil.

“Ciara Ginty was just one fight away from qualifying for the last Olympics. She’s a fantastic young boxer from Mayo who won a World Junior Title last year. She has a great future.”

The Irish Independent ran a story last September, which claimed that frustration with the way she’s been treated by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association could lead to Katie turning pro.

“I got a lot of offers after London, a few of which I considered, but my heart just wasn’t in professional boxing at that time,” she replies. “My love of amateur boxing and the Olympics hasn’t diminished at all. People think professional boxing is a step up from amateur, but to win a world title in amateur boxing is actually a lot harder. Me going pro is something that might happen in the future, but definitely not until after Rio.”

Along with her elite athlete funding, Katie earns a decent crust through her associations with Adidas, Aramark, Sky Sports, Toyota and Lucozade Sport, who she shot a new ad for in December.

“I won’t forget that in a hurry,” she grimaces. “The flight over to Heathrow was the worst I’ve ever been on. The turbulence coming in to land was awful. I’m a terrible flyer so I was having a nervous breakdown on the plane. The ads also have Steven Gerrard and Seamus Coleman in them, but sadly we were filming on separate days. They’re two more footballers I really respect – Steven because he’s been doing it at the top level for so long and Seamus for making the step up from Sligo Rovers to Everton look so easy. I think he could turn out to be the best Irish player of his generation.”

A devout Christian – her website is also adorned with a sizeable chunk of Psalm 18 – Taylor has been portrayed in some quarters as being a bit of a Holy Mary, but doesn’t come across like that today.

“I don’t go out a whole lot, but when I do I always have fun,” she insists. “I have my beliefs but I’m not judgmental. Everyone’s entitled to live life the way they want to.”

So, when will Katie be sneaking past her dad next and hitting town? “He’s the one who pushes me out!” she grins. “I love Kodaline. They’ve a gig coming up in a few weeks in the O2, I’ll have to see if I can get tickets.”

We’ve had a word, Katie, and you’re on the guest-list!

Katie was talking to Hot Press at the launch of AIB’s ‘Me2U’ App, an easy way of sending money between phones. See aib.ie/me2U