Olympic champion, five-time world amateur champion, six-time European champion and now Katie Taylor is the WBA lightweight champion of the world.
In just her seventh professional fight, Ireland’s Taylor has claimed world championship gold in stunning style as she dominated from opening bell to the scorecards.
Cardiff’s Principality Stadium hosted the most important bout of the 31-year-old’s unprecedentedly decorated career to date and Taylor relished the chance to perform in front of close to 80,000 spectators on Anthony Joshua’s undercard on Saturday night.
Taylor did her job and came in at 9st 8lb on Friday while opponent and defending champion Sanchez weighed in at 9st 10lbs and, once she failed to meet the target at a second weigh-in two hours later, she lost her world title on the scales.
High drama on the scales https://t.co/zMSDaR3iVe
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) October 27, 2017
Taylor was still able to win the belt and win it she did by putting on a technical clinic against her scrappy and very game opponent.
The Irishwoman took the centre of the ring early on but, credit to Sanchez, she was willing to stand and trade with Taylor in the opening stages.
Taylor looked several levels above the Argentine and mixed up her shots between the head and the body with aplomb.
Referee Steve Gray was called in to take a look at Sanchez in the second round when she was dropped with a crunching body shot but she returned to her feet and while she couldn’t defend her title, she hoped to defend her pride.
Sanchez’s strategy was likely to make the contest less of a boxing match and more of a gritty brawl, and Taylor wore signs of hard-earned damage as the rounds went on.
The crowd was sent into a frenzy as Taylor’s precision and Sanchez’s persistence met in several flurries throughout a fascinating stylistic match-up.
Several right hands from Taylor snapped Sanchez’s head backwards in the second half of the bout but the stoppage eluded the Bray-born fighter, not that she’ll be all that concerned about that now that she’s got her hands on the belt.
All three judges scored the fight 99-90 in favour of Taylor, for whom a fight in her native Ireland can’t be too far away.
Women’s professional boxing has been crying out for a fighter like this for years and, on Saturday night, Katie Taylor answered that call.
