Katie shows why she truly is the greatest

Georgia in the United States is an area that often comes into the public consciousness on this side of the world every spring, with the arrival of The Masters, golf’s greatest championship. For a week, the sporting public are transfixed by the azaleas, the lush green grass and the truly remarkable golf course that is Augusta National. It is one of sport’s iconic venues. Every year, the winner of the year’s first major is presented with a green jacket as he joins an illustrious list of winners to join golf’s most exclusive club.

Well, two hours away, yellow jackets are the order of the day.

Georgia Tech is one of many third level institutions in the US with a strong sporting tradition, particularly in athletics and college football. All of the teams there are referred to as the 'Yellow Jackets', owing to their colours of yellow or amber and a dash of dark green.

Aside from the exploits on the field of play or on the track, Georgia Tech is famous for the introduction of a pioneering program which helped athletes become more rounded individuals through the Total Person Program. Since its inception, the TPP has since been adopted at universities nationwide as part of the NCAA Life Skills Program, helping athletes across a variety of areas including career progression, wellness and developing leadership skills.

The man behind it all is Homer Rice, who spent seventeen years at Georgia Tech as Athletic Director up until 1997. His statue stands on the campus.

In speaking about his experience with athletes through his work and his experience as a football coach, Rice made the following observation.

“You can motivate by fear and you can motivate by reward. But those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.” 

Rice’s words feel particularly apt in the aftermath of Saturday night’s fight in the 3-Arena, where Katie Taylor produced an emphatic display of staying power to better her opponent, Chantelle Cameron.

One of Ireland’s sporting heroes, the Bray woman went into Saturday’s fight as motivated as ever by her ambition to prove one thing – that she is the best. The fact that Taylor suffered defeat at the hands of Cameron in their May bout made Saturday night’s triumph all the sweeter and all the more impressive. Don’t forget, she was stepping up in weight to take on the Northampton woman, who hadn’t lost in her professional career until last weekend’s reversal. In a long list, it was her greatest night yet.

The bout was something of a classic, with both fighters combining the necessary spirit with the guile and craft needed to score heavily with the judges.

As has been a hallmark of her career, Taylor’s efficiency was again an effective trait throughout and gave her a little bit of breathing room in the closing rounds where some quick combinations helped offset a noticeable drop-off in her physical ability, with both women shattered by the time the final bell sounded.

Above all, though, Taylor’s remarkable fortitude to know just what was on the line on Saturday night in terms of her career – which may well have come to an end had it ended differently – and deliver one of the all-time great performances, is another reason why she stands head and shoulders above all in her discipline.

The sweat was still pumping in the aftermath when attention quickly turned to what is next, with all eyes now, it would appear, firmly focused on a Croke Park date for the pair in a third and final fight. Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom Boxing fame, wasted little time in calling on all stakeholders to come together and make it happen.

Given Taylor’s stature in Irish sporting history, a date on Jones’ Road is surely warranted.

Long before it was popular or generated any significant air time, Taylor was the champion for women’s boxing and her gold medal in London eleven years ago will retain its place as one of Ireland’s greatest Olympic triumphs, even as the years continue to slide by. The 37-year-old is one of our finest sportspeople.

Immensely talented as a footballer, she pursued the boxing route and has, almost single-handedly, helped women’s boxing become such a significant sport that it is now a reasonable proposition that one of Europe’s largest stadiums will be packed to the rafters for a fight at some stage next year.

Have we ever had a sportsperson that has become the main driver of a sport’s rise worldwide?

You could argue that Rory McIlroy has become that central figure in golf for this generation, but he, or nobody, will match Tiger Woods. Roy Keane, Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Donovan are other names that come to mind, yet none can match the impact Taylor has had on her respective discipline.

Given all of that, and the potential for one of the great Irish sporting nights to unfold, all stakeholders should come together to help deliver one final hurrah for Taylor on home soil. Given her track record, a fight in Croke Park in front of a bumper crowd would be a fitting crowning moment. But back to our earlier point on motivation.

Taylor is someone who drives her own personal standards and clearly, like Rice said, is self-motivated.

Here's what she had to say about what was going through her head since that loss in May of this year.

"Coming off a loss, you have to obviously go the extra mile in training.

"We've put our body through torture over these last few months in preparation for this rematch and we knew we were going to be well-prepared stepping in here.

"But definitely people writing me off... I was definitely half offended that people were actually writing me off so much.

"It's great to prove people wrong and I'm back on top again."

To all those doubting Katie Taylor can make a Croke Park date a success – don’t write her off!