Olympics:World Champion lightweight Katie Taylor was dealt a tough Olympic draw in the ExCel Arena in London's docklands. Taylor gets a bye but must then face the winner of the first round fight between Britain's Natasha Jonas or America's Queen Underwood. Taylor has fought and beaten both opponents before, although, was almost defeated by Underwood at the World Championships in Barbados two years ago.
“You have to beat them all to win a medal anyway,” said Peter Taylor, Katie’s father and coach. “They will be the ones thinking that they have a tough draw because whoever wins will have to face Katie.”
In the men’s draw the unseeded light flyweight, Paddy Barne’s received a bye in the first round while his Belfast team mate Michael Conlan, seeded six, also got a bye. The flyweight, Conlan, however, is in the same side of the draw as the second seed Britain’s Andrew Selby.
Bantamweight John Joe Nevin had hoped to be seeded four but missed out on that by one and so just missed getting a bye into the second round. Now he faces Denmark’s Dennis Ceylan.
Both welterweight Adam Nolan and middleweight Darren O’Neil went into the draw unseeded. South paw Nolan faces Ecuadoran, Estacio Sanchez with team captain O’Neill in against the unknown Nigerian Muideen Akanji.
“My impression coming here is that it was going to be tough and that’s exactly the way it’s turned out,” the Irish head coach Billy Walsh said after the draw. “Anyone who is in it is going to be of good quality and the way it’s panned we’ve got some very, very tough opponents.
“But maybe all of them will be thinking the same thing. It’s going to be a 50-50 one."