Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish former professional boxer and footballer. She is the former three-time undisputed champion, having previously been the undisputed and undefeated lineal world lightweight champion from 2019 to 2024, before moving up and becoming the undisputed and lineal world super lightweight champion on two separate occasions between 2023 and 2026. Credited with raising the profile of women's boxing in Ireland and around the world, Taylor has been described as one of Ireland's greatest ever athletes and is considered by many to be one of the greatest female boxers of all time.
As an amateur, Taylor was involved in the first ever officially sanctioned female boxing bout in Ireland on October 31, 2001 at the age of 15 years old before eventually going on to win five consecutive gold medals at the Women's World Championships, gold six times at the European Championships, and gold five times at the European Union Championships. She was also pivotal in getting women’s boxing entered into the Olympics and was the flag bearer for Ireland at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony before going on to win the gold medal in the lightweight division.
Taylor turned professional in November of 2016 under promotor Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing. In her professional debut she secured a third round TKO victory over Poland’s Karina Kopińska, she followed that up with 3 more victories over the next 4 months before getting the opportunity to face undefeated German contender and future world champion Nina Meinke on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in a final eliminator for the WBA lightweight title, with Taylor winning by seventh round TKO. Later that year only 11 months after making her pro debut she won her first world title by defeating three-weight world champion Anahí Ester Sánchez for the WBA lightweight title by unanimous decision, before later adding the IBF and WBO titles to her collection with wins over Victoria Bustos and Rose Volante respectively.
After her TKO victory over Volante, Taylor called out WBC champion Delfine Persoon and the two met three months later at Madison Square Garden to crown the first ever undisputed lightweight champion as well as the inaugural The Ring lightweight champion. Taylor came out victorious ending Persoon’s 8-year reign and in the process becoming only the seventh boxer in history (female or male) to hold all four major world titles in boxing—WBA, IBF, WBO and WBC—simultaneously. She repeated this feat four years later, at 37 years of age, when she defeated Chantelle Cameron in Dublin for the WBA, IBF, WBO, WBC and IBO titles, regaining the WBO title she had initially won from Christina Linardatou back in 2019.
On 5 September 2026, at the age of 40 years and 65 days, she again became undisputed champion after defeating the undefeated IBO champion Flora Pili in front of 83,000 at Croke Park, the largest crowd ever assembled for an individual female sporting event as well as being the eleventh highest attendance overall and sixth highest attendance for a post-war boxing event.
With her win over Pili, Taylor became only the fifth boxer (female or male) to become undisputed three times and became the oldest boxer to become undisputed champion, surpassing Bernard Hopkins who achieved the feat at 39 years and 247 days.
Taylor ended her career ranked as the best female boxer, pound-for-pound, by The Ring and BoxRec. She was known for her fast-paced, aggressive and exciting boxing style.
Early life Katie Taylor was born on 2 July 1986 in Bray, County Wicklow, the daughter of Irish mother Bridget (née Cranley), and English-born father, Pete Taylor. She has an older sister, Sarah, and two older brothers, Lee and Peter; the latter is a mathematics professor at Dublin City University. Her father, who was born near Leeds and grew up in Birmingham, first visited Bray to work with his own father in the amusement arcades on the seafront. After meeting and marrying Bridget, he decided to settle in Bray. In 1986, he became the Irish senior light heavyweight champion. Originally an electrician, he later became Taylor's full-time boxing coach. He also coached Adam Nolan who, like Taylor, represented Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Bridget also developed an interest in boxing and became one of the earliest female referees and judges in Ireland.
Between 1999 and 2005, Taylor attended St. Kilian's Community School in Bray. Her three older siblings had also attended the school. As well as boxing and playing association football, she played ladies' Gaelic football and camogie with her local GAA clubs, Bray Emmets and Fergal Ógs. She was a member of Bray Runners, a local athletics club, and several American colleges reportedly offered her sports scholarships while she was still studying at St Killian's. She instead chose to attend University College Dublin, known for its sports scholarship programme, which she qualified for through her Leaving Cert results. As her sporting career began to progress, she decided not to complete her studies at UCD.
Taylor is a cousin of former UFC flyweight Molly McCann.
Amateur career Taylor first began boxing in 1996, aged 10. Her father coached her and her two older brothers, Lee and Peter, at St Fergal's Boxing Club, which operated out of a former boathouse in Bray. At 15, in 2001, she fought in the first officially sanctioned female boxing match in Ireland, at the National Stadium, and defeated Alanna Audley from Belfast.
List of title fights 2005 European Amateur Boxing Championship Taylor's first noteworthy success was at the 2005 European Amateur Championships, in Tønsberg, Norway. She won the gold medal, defeating Eva Wahlström of Finland in the final of the 60 kg lightweight class.
2005 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship Later in 2005, at the World Amateur Championships in Podolsk, Russia, Taylor advanced to the quarter-finals in the 60 kg weight class, where she lost to Kang Kum-Hui.
2006 European Amateur Boxing Championship At the 2006 European Amateur Championships in Warsaw, Poland, Taylor won her second successive gold medal by stopping reigning world champion Tatiana Chalaya of Russia, also collecting the tournament's Best Boxer award.
2006 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship At the 2006 World Women's Boxing Championship, contested in New Delhi, India, Taylor became Ireland's first World Champion, defeating Chalaya again in the semi-final and then Erica Farias of Argentina in the 60 kg final.
2007 European Amateur Boxing Championship In 2007, she won her third successive European Championship title in Denmark.
2008 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships 2008 saw Taylor win her first European Union gold medal, contested in August in Liverpool, England. Here she defeated Cindy Orain of France.
2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship Taylor went on to claim her second World title at the 2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, contested in November at Ningbo, China. In the 60 kg weight class, she defeated China's Cheng Dong in the final match which was her 100th bout.
2009 Entering the public eye: On 21 March 2009 at The Dublin O2, Taylor won a 27–3 win over three-time Pan-American champion Caroline Barry of the United States on the undercard of a pro WBA super bantamweight world title fight between Bernard Dunne of Ireland and Ricardo Cordoba of Panama. Speaking after the fight, Taylor, who had stopped Barry in the final of the 2006 World Championships in New Delhi, said she was stunned by the welcome she received from Irish boxing fans. She said: "I couldn't believe the reception I got – it was an amazing experience for me. I knew it was going to be a tough fight and well done to her for never backing off."
2009 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships Taylor defended her European Union title in 2009. She beat home favourite, Bulgaria's Denitsa Elisayeva, in the July tournament hosted in Pazardzhik.
2010 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship On 18 September 2010, Taylor went on to claim her third successive World title at the 2010 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, in Barbados. In the 60 kg weight class, she again defeated China's Cheng Dong in the final match. This was Taylor's 100th career win.
2011 EU Women Boxing Championships Taylor won the gold medal at the EU Women Boxing Championships in Katowice, Poland in 2011.
2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship On 19 May 2012, Taylor won her fourth successive World title at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, in Qinhuangdao China. In the 60 kg weight class, she defeated Russian southpaw Sofya Ochigava.
2012 Summer Olympics
Taylor qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the first time women's boxing had been considered for inclusion. Crowds gathered on the streets of her hometown Bray to watch her progress on giant screens erected especially for the occasion. Coddle released a single called "Katie Taylor Ireland's Boxing Legend". The song reached number 42 in the Irish Charts.
Taylor's first appearance at the 2012 Summer Olympics came on 6 August, after a first round bye. She achieved an impressive 26–15 victory (R1: 5–2, R2: 5–5, R3: 9–4, R4: 7–4) over Great Britain's Natasha Jonas, booking her place in the semi-final and guaranteeing her, at least, an Olympic bronze medal. Fans of Taylor produced record noise levels at the Olympics.
In the semi-final on 8 August 2012, she proved far too good for Tajikistan's Mavzuna Chorieva and won in a 17–9 victory (R1: 3–1, R2: 4–2, R3: 6–3, R4: 4–3), booking her place in the final and guaranteeing her, at least, an Olympic silver medal.
Taylor defeated Russia's Sofya Ochigava in the final bout by 10–8 (R1: 2–2, R2: 1–2, R3: 4–1, R4: 3–3) on 9 August 2012, winning an Olympic gold medal, and becoming the first ever Olympic female lightweight champion.
On her return to Dublin with the rest of the Olympic squad she got into the cockpit of the plane and leaned out the window waving an Irish flag.
2014 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships On 24 November 2014, Taylor won her fifth straight lightweight title in South Korea at the 2014 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, defeating Yana Alekseevna of Azerbaijan. The final scoreline was 40–36, 39–37, and 39–37 in her favour.
2015 European Games On 27 June 2015, Taylor won the lightweight title in Azerbaijan at the inaugural European Games, defeating Estelle Mossely of France. The final scoreline was 40–36, 40–36, and 39–37 in her favour.
2016 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships On 24 May 2016, Taylor qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics after defeating Victoria Torres in the quarter-finals of the lightweight division at the 2016 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships. Two days later, Taylor lost to Estelle Mossely in the semi-finals which ended her quest for a sixth World title in a row.
2016 Summer Olympics
On 15 August 2016, Taylor lost 2–1 in the quarter-finals to Mira Potkonen of Finland and did not advance.
Professional career
Debut and early career After a successful 15 year amateur career spanning 189 fights Taylor reached out to promoter Eddie Hearn and soon after officially sign with Matchroom Boxing becoming the first female boxer to sign with the promotion.
Taylor made her professional debut on 26 November 2016, scoring a third-round technical knockout (TKO) over Karina Kopińska at the Wembley Arena in London.