Katie Taylor Four times World Champ

It's not often everyone in my house gets up at 8am on a Saturday morning to watch television. But when RTE announced they would show Katie Taylor's final bout at the AIBA World Champs, well it just had to be be done. 

So just in case you don't know - yesterday morning Irish amateur boxer Katie Taylor (60kgs) beat Russian Sofya Ochygava 11-7.

And for the first time we (in Ireland) got to watch her fight live on national TV. So much better than a dodgy internet connection routed though god-knows-where.

Taylor talked to RTE after the fight and said: "It’s unbelievable, this is what I’ve been training for all year. To win the world title for the fourth time in a row and qualify for the Olympics is amazing.

"For the last couple of years people have been wishing me well for the Olympics and I have had to tell them that I hadn’t qualified yet. And there was so much pressure on me going into this competition and it’s just a big relief to finally qualify and to be going into the Olympics as the current world champion."

It was tense, so close - the first two rounds even and then Taylor hit the gas. Beautiful to watch. And yes, a big part of me so happy that finally, finally people get to see what women's boxing is all about.

There are some great shots here. 

Sad though to see the other two Irish contenders - Ceire Smith and Sinead Kavanagh, knocked out earlier in the week. Better luck next time ladies! 

And the other AIBA results on their page here.

UPDATE:  and final link for today - girlboxing has this informative post on the new Olympic quotas for boxing