Boxing: Women's World Amateur Championships Irish amateur boxer Katie Taylor is regarded as favourite to win a World Championship crown in India today. Taylor, from the St Fergal's club in Bray, completely outclassed reigning world champion Tatyana Chalaya in yesterday's lightweight semi-final in New Delhi.
Ranked number one in the world, Taylor beat the Russian 23-6 in a repeat of last September's European final in Poland, which the Irish woman also won.
Yesterday's victory at the Talkatota Stadium, which was Taylor's fourth in five days, sets up a 60kg final against Argentinian Annabelle Farias today.
Gary Keegan, the director of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association's High Performance programme, was full of praise for Taylor's displays.
He said: "Katie's performances in India so far have been phenomenal. She beat the world champion and some of the top boxers in the world over the last few days and not only is she beating them, she is completely outclassing them.
"The Argentinian girl is a bit of an unknown quantity as she has come out of nowhere and she cannot be underestimated. But we have every confidence in Katie."
Farias won't be an unknown quantity to coach Peter Taylor, an ex-Irish light heavyweight champion, who is in his daughter's corner in New Delhi.
He said: "We have been studying videos of Farias and she has to be respected as she beat some top-class opponents to reach today's final.
"I watched her in her semi-final and I didn't expect her to win, but she put on a great performance and she has also beat Lucie Bertaud from France, who is ranked sixth in the world.
"A few of the boxers who are at number one in the rankings went out at the semi-final stage, so it just shows that we cannot take anything for granted."
Reflecting on the semi-final win, Taylor said: "We are delighted with the win and the manner of the victory.
"The Russian girl was very wary of Katie after September's European final.
"She didn't commit herself much and it never descended into a brawl.
"Overall it was a very controlled performance from Katie. She was very patient throughout the fight, didn't rush anything and just kept picking up the points throughout the bout.
"She is in a very confident mood out here and she can't wait to get in the ring for what should be a very exciting final."
He added: "Everything is now geared toward the final. It is going to be exciting, and it is going to be tense, but we are all looking forward to it."
The president of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, Dominic O'Rourke, said: "Katie has been boxing exceptionally well and some, if not all, of her wins have been incredible so far."
Taylor won her first three bouts on the 15-point rule.
She overcame American national champion Caroline Barry (16-1) in round one, Finland's Eva Walstrom (19-4) in the second round, Florianna Popa of Romania (20-5) in round three, and Chalaya to reach today's final.
