BOXING:It was an intimate night in the Royal Hotel in Bray where the kids were high on fizzy drinks and a local legend, writes JOHNNY WATTERSON

AS OFTEN has been her way, Katie Taylor moved sure-footedly towards the Olympic Qualifying tournament in May in her inimitable less-is-more sort of style. Understated in everything but her boxing, the world champion pushed her way along the red-patterned carpet, through the modest crowd of family members, friends and local well-wishers, her eyes unwavering and fixed straight ahead as if this was her London 2012.

“I’m too nervous to smile, to be honest,” she said. “I get really nervous before I fight so I try to stay focused and try to think about the things my dad and Zaur are telling me in the corner.”

Intimate and personal, her meeting with the world number five, Norway’s Ingrid Egner, on the dance floor in the Royal Hotel, Bray, on Saturday night carried a provincial town feel but with a Hollywood twist. The best female boxer in the world was topping the bill.

Even a disappointed Egner confirmed that much after Taylor followed on from her Friday night win with another unanimous decision in her favour.

“She’s extremely fast,” said the Norwegian afterwards. “I think she is the most explosive female amateur boxer at this time and she’s very technical, a big talent. It’s my opinion she is the best amateur boxer, if you consider all weight categories.”

A ring constructed in the corner of a low-ceiling room with large scalloped recesses and enormous light shades hanging down crushed the hall until it seemed like it was resting just a few inches from Taylor and her father Peter’s head. There was a trophy table to one side and red velour dinning room chairs spread around, some set in lines and others moved and repositioned away from the support pillars, where people leaned with their drinks and cameras.

On the floor sat bundles of young girls, some with their hair still braided from the earlier bouts, their elbows resting on the blue canvas of the low ring, grazing on bags of crisps and sucking fizzy drinks.

The coaches and fighters had to squeeze between the referee’s table and the ring to get to the red corner. But no one cared. This was a night of a few hundred people reaching out, literally, to touch the girl they believe will bring back a medal from the Olympic Games.

It was a celebration of Taylor’s humble appeal and her common touch. Only the presence of a Sky camera crew and a lengthy interview in the ring after the fight hinted that here was a reputation that reached far beyond the borders of a seaside town in Wicklow.

As a fight it was similar in narrative to the Irish rugby match that had gone before. Two rounds of Taylor adjusting but entirely in control, a much better third round and a fourth where Egner must have lost count of the number of shuddering lefts and uppercuts that cracked into her headgear and up and under her defence.

“I think every time I box against them they rise to the occasion all the time so it was really, really tough,” said Taylor. “There is no pressure on them coming into these fights. Everyone expects me to win so it makes it that bit harder.

“But the standard for boxing is getting better and better. You can see it in all the girls improving all the time. It’s very important that I keep improving as well and just try and keep a few steps ahead of them.

“These fights are always easier than some of the sparring sessions I have with the lads in the Irish team. The preparation and sparring the likes of Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes . . . none of those girls would have been exposed to that, so it’s great that I have those spars. It’s always mentally very tough having to deal with the pressure coming into these fights as well. That’s really the main difference coming in, having to deal with it mentally more than physically.”

As much as wishing to appear and be seen in her home town before she goes global, the weekend was about converting the sparring with male European and Olympic medallists into cold, pragmatic ring performance, dealing with the idiosyncrasies of opponents, their desperation if they have to chase a bout. Nuances often creep in that cannot be replicated in a training camp.

“It’s great to have these. You can do all the sparring in the world but it’s not really the same as getting into the ring,” she said.

“It’s just so important to get the fights under your belt as well as the sparring and as well as the training. Everything I try when I’m sparring I always try it in the ring when I’m boxing. It’s great preparation.”

The expectation is that the twice world and five times European champion will take part in five more competitive fights before travelling to China, a schedule that includes a couple of fights in the National Stadium and a match against the Netherlands. A training camp in the Ukraine has also been organised.

Taylor probably needs to medal in the Chinese tournament to secure her place in London. That has never been a problem in the past but this year has brought different pressures. There will be 12 fighters in each weight division and of those 12 will come from Europe. The numbers are tight.

“She’s the most explosive and she’s the fastest girl out there and she’s also very strong and hits very hard,” said the gracious Egner, who could face Taylor again in the qualification process and the Olympics if she comes through. “She’s very talented.” But can she win a gold medal in London? “I think it’s a big chance,” she adds smiling.

Big talk in Bray. But that’s how it has been all along and that is how the night ended; optimism and the kids running feral, high on sugar and Katie Taylor.