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 2016 under promoter 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.
Lystic