How Katie Taylor’s faith took her from darkness into the light – and onto greatness

In a dressing room in the Hogan Stand on Saturday night, a passage from Psalm 18 looked down from the wall.

It is a verse that Katie Taylor has carried with her through her brightest moments and darkest hours.

“I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Taylor reflected after her farewell fight, a unanimous decision win over Flora Pili on Saturday night at Croke Park, that she felt the “weight of a nation on my shoulders” – she didn’t carry this proud little nation too badly!

The Bray woman is carved from deep-rooted faith.

Her trainer, Ross Enamit, told her before a magical ring walk that it was a “privilege” to feel the nerves.

“I’m so grateful,” Taylor said after earning the verdict from all three judges to go off into the night as a three-time undisputed world champion.

Taylor and her mother, Bridget, recite the words of Psalm 18 before each fight. They did so again on Saturday night in Croke Park.

Outside, a crowd in excess of 80,000 waited while a calm, composed Taylor prayed.

“Life is full of ups and downs,” Taylor said in her post-fight press conference. “I think during some personal hard times I clung onto my faith and the word of God sustains you during those times. The same during some of the losses I suffered; during the Rio Olympics, the Chantelle Cameron loss as well, I held onto that faith. 

“The word of God is very, very powerful. I fell in love with the word of God at a young age. I try to live my life by the word of God and I have tried to hold my integrity in place all along through my career. 

“Look at what God has done. He has done the impossible in my life time and time again. I am giving Him all the glory and honour for what I have achieved. I am so grateful for it all. It’s all part of the journey.”

It was after some of her darkest moments that she contacted Enamit. It took a couple of direct messages to the Connecticut-based coach before Taylor got a response. She had kept an eye on Enamel’s methods and knew he was the man she wanted – needed – to take her to the professional ranks.

Her legendary amateur career – 18 major titles in the Irish singlet – ended in disbelief and disappointment. The Rio Olympics in 2016 saw Taylor lose her lightweight crown at the hands of Mira Potkonen, just three months after Estelle Mossely snatched her world amateur title from her in Astana.

Around the same time, her father, Peter, was absent from her corner for the first time since teaching his little girl how to box in their kitchen. Relations have mended, but father hasn’t been back in daughter’s corner since.

“People resonate with the vulnerabilities as well,” Taylor said on Saturday night. “They saw me cope with the heartbreak of Rio, the heartbreak of the Chantelle Cameron fight and they see me in personal difficulties in this country as well. I think my story is the story of everybody in this room, in this country; we all have our good days, we all have our bad days. Life is full of ups and downs and that is something we can all resonate with. “

Taylor walked out to All Hail King Jesus by Bethel Music, whose version of Raise A Hallelujah she used for her rematch – and victory – over Cameron in 2023. Bethel Music’s mission is to ‘carry the culture of Heaven to the nations through worship’. 

“I don’t like the limelight,” Taylor told her audience of journalists in the Hogan Stand. Boxing is a generally-shady business not usually home to the decent skins like Taylor.

“I don’t like being the centre of attention. It’s funny how I am actually in this position in boxing.  “It’s such a dark world at times. 

“I’m probably the least likely person to be involved in the sport, but here I am. I certainly don’t like all the trash talk and all the stuff that comes with it. Thankfully I never had to trash talk to succeed in this sport. I just let my excellence do my talking. I always let my boxing do the talking and I found that was the best way to open doors for women’s boxing.”

Taylor blew the doors open in the sport. Twenty years ago, women’s boxing wasn’t on the Olympic Games roster. In the professional ranks, women’s boxing operated almost like an underworld business.

Taylor would not be denied, regardless of the doors she knocked on. From the IOC, who she convinced that women’s boxing was worthy of a spot at the Olympics, to an initially unsure Eddie Hearn – who shed tears, draped in an Irish tricolour on Saturday – Taylor got even the most unlikely on board. 

“I don’t think as a 10-year-old I could have imagined fighting at Croke Park and selling the place out,” she smiled. “I don’t think my mind had the capacity to dream these things.” 

She always has believed in a higher power but this, almost-otherworldly moment, was her own making.