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02nd Nov 2019

Katie Taylor becomes two-weight world champion with Manchester masterclass

Darragh Murphy

Katie Taylor is a two-weight world champion!

Taylor’s reign of dominance in the ring continued on Saturday night, when she moved up in weight to claim the WBO super-lightweight title in Manchester.

In the penultimate bout at the Manchester Arena, Taylor moved to 15-0 as a professional by claiming a unanimous decision victory (96-94, 97-93×2) over Christina Linardatou.

The Bray boxer fought beautifully, countering masterfully and making Linardatou miss repeatedly with her matchless footwork.

While Taylor did take some damage to the right eye courtesy of her heavy-handed Greek opponent, the result was never in doubt and the undisputed lightweight champ kept her flawless professional record intact with superior technique and commitment to her gameplan.

After a stellar amateur career which saw her claim an Olympic gold medal, Taylor made the decision to turn pro less than three years ago and quickly skyrocketed to one of the biggest names and best-paid fighters on the planet.

“Thank you so much for the support. This was a dream to headline a huge show like this,”an emotional Taylor said in her post-fight interview. “I’m making history again, breaking boundaries again and I’m a two-weight world champion. The best is yet to come.

“We knew from the start that this was going to be a very tough fight. We said that Christina was the best 140lber in the division and we knew that it was going to be a tough, tough fight for 10 rounds.

“But I boxed beautifully on the outside and boxed smart for a change instead of getting stuck into a fight this time.”

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