Katie Taylor: 'Why stop now if I still feel good?'

RTÉ News​

27-06-2025

Katie Taylor says she doesn't see any reason why she should bring the curtain down on her career anytime soon as the third instalment of her trilogy against Amanda Serrano looms large next month.
Having narrowly won their first two encounters, the 39-year-old is due to come up against Serrano once again at New York's iconic Madison Square Garden on 11 July.
And although the Bray boxer acknowledges that she is towards the latter end of her illustrious career, Taylor told RTÉ 2fm's Game On that she feels far from jaded.
"I know that I'm definitely at the end of my career, I can't do this forever and I don't want to do this forever," she told Marie Crowe.
"But I feel good right now, I feel fresh and why stop now if I still feel good and fresh.
"And I still love my sport as well. I'm still not sick of the early mornings or the early morning runs or the sparring sessions.
"I love my sport and I think it's because of the love for my sport that I'm able to do this for so long as well.
"That's why I'm still in this position. I'm going to be 39 this month and I don't think when I started boxing I thought I was going to be still boxing at this age.
"But I just feel good and I feel great, and I don't think I'm slowing down."
However, she admitted that it can be difficult for her family to watch on as she pushes herself to the limit in a physically bruising sport like boxing.
"It's tough for them to see me all banged up and bruised after these fights when my eyes are out to here and my face is all bruised but I actually heal very quickly as well," she said.
"But I feel in a good spot right now. I'm not going to damage myself or keep going beyond what I can endure. I'm always going to be smart and I'm going to be smart and make the right decision at the right time."
Despite everything that Taylor has achieved professionally, and prior to that in becoming an Olympic champion and winning multiple world titles at amateur level, the one dream that has thus far got away has been the chance to fight at Croke Park. But she is sanguine about that situation.
"I don't know if that's every going to happen. I would love for it to happen but those things are out of my control," she said.
"It's a lot easier to fight at Madison Square Garden than it is to make the fight in Croke Park just because of all the complications there.
"I would love to have the chance to fight there but what can I do about that? I don't know if that's ever going to happen."
With the Serrano fight just over a month away, Taylor is making small tweaks to her approach which she is hopeful will reap dividends on 11 July.
"I think the little adjustments, like your sparring partners are always a bit different, you're always working on a few different conditioning things, the tactics are always a small bit different," she said.
"Those little differences make a huge difference and it's those little adjustments that make a training camp very exciting as well.
"I don't really get bored of it. I obviously wake up sometimes and I'm not in the mood for training but I realise I'm in a very, very privileged position as well and being part of another huge mega fight night and every single female fighter in the world wants to be in this position right now," she said.
"So I definitely don't take it for granted and I put the work in every single day because of that."
Last time, she and Serrano came face to face was in April during a particularly tempestuous press conference in which they traded barbs.
But it appears that there is no bad blood, at least from Taylor's point of view.
"I wouldn't have any contact with Amanda outside of the fights really but I have a lot of respect for her," she said.
"She's obviously a great fighter, a great athlete and she's a fantastic person as well so I have nothing bad I could say about her.
"We've been involved in some historic nights and I'm very grateful that I have Amanda Serrano to share these huge nights with.
"We've made history together and there's a lot of mutual respect there."
What is more of a focus for Taylor is the legacy that the trilogy will leave behind for women's boxing.
"I think it's amazing the sport is in a position where we can get an all-female card," she said.
"Not just an all-female card but a top quality all-female card and I think that for me is just amazing for the sport and I love the fact that I get a chance to make history again.
"The reason why I'm taking this fight with Amanda Serrano - I don't need this fight, I'm 2-0 against her but it's because of these big nights and because it's another historic night that I'm taking these fights.
"Imagine what this showcase is going to do again for the next generation of female fighters, it's huge, live on Netflix, it's a huge platform and it's an amazing position to be in."