(SEPT 20) Irish Olympic
boxing champion Katie Taylor may abandon a planned defence of
her title in 2016 to turn professional after enduring a
“terrible year” which she said saw women’s boxing take a step
backwards.
Taylor, a sporting icon in her country, became one of the faces
of the London Games last year by playing the lead role in a
stunningly successful Olympic debut for women’s boxing, one that
firmly left the men in the shade.
Taylor had pledged to remain an amateur in order to box in the
Rio de Janeiro Games in three years’ time but said on Friday
that she was now “flirting” with the pro ranks, laying the blame
on boxing’s governing body and the sport’s Irish authorities.
“This year has been a terrible year for me,” Taylor, who last
year turned down a number of professional contracts, was quoted
as saying in the Irish Independent newspaper.
“With the European championships (in July), it was just a fight
in a little tent in front of 100 people; it was really badly
organised... For an Olympic medallist to be fighting in front of
that kind of crowd, it was just disappointing. It looked like
women’s boxing was taking a step backwards.”
The one-time international soccer player, 27, bemoaned the lack
of progress made by AIBA (The International Boxing Association)
in opening its new professional league to women.
The ruling body has established AIBA Professional Boxing (APB)
and the World Series of Boxing (WSB) to stop losing boxers to
the traditional professional ranks by offering male fighters a
living while still allowing them a shot at Olympic gold.
Taylor’s coach, her father Peter, has been trying to get
information regarding any plans to extend WSB to female boxers
but has not received answers, the lightweight champion said.
“This should have been the year when the WSB was set up and we
capitalised on what happened last year,” Taylor said.
“It will be hard to get the motivation if this WSB doesn’t go
ahead. I feel a bit frustrated stepping backwards, instead of
pushing on from last year.”
AIBA president Wu Ching-Kuo told Reuters last year that he would
examine the possibility of extending the new professional
leagues to include women after the London Games.
However the governing body said on Friday that while it was
would consider a women’s WSB in the future, it is not foreseen
for the time being for a range of technical and organisational
reasons.
AIBA said it naturally took Taylor’s opinion seriously but
pointed to the record number of competitors currently taking
part in the second Women’s Junior World Boxing Championships in
Bulgaria as proof that it was committed to developing the sport.
“We all admire Katie and recognise that any frustration she
feels stems from her sincere passion for the sport. However we
have to disagree that the state of women’s boxing is going
backwards, far from it in fact,” AIBA said in an emailed
statement to Reuters
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