In a career littered with remarkable achievements, Katie Taylor said her epic rematch with Chantelle Cameron was her best yet.
Six months ago, she hung her head in defeat for the first time as a professional as Cameron jumped into the arms of her team to celebrate a famous win.
On Irish soil, Taylor’s worst nightmare had come true and for many it seemed as though the world’s most iconic female boxer had run her race.
But fast forward to Saturday night, in the same arena against the same opponent at the same weight, and Taylor did what great fighters do – she rose again.
“I was nearly half offended that people were writing me off so much. It’s great to prove people wrong and I’m back on top again,” Taylor said at the post-fight news conference.
“This is what dreams are made of. Two-weight undisputed champion, this is more than a dream.
“I had a lot of pressure going into this fight. It was the longest six months waiting for the rematch. I had sleepless nights thinking about the loss.”
Taylor was born in a country where it was illegal for her to box, and into a world where women were barred from boxing in the Olympics. Where female fighters who had come before her like Deirdre Gogarty and Jane Couch were denigrated and ignored.
She would barge through all those obstacles, win a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012, become Ireland’s first undisputed boxing world champion in the four-belt era and sell out Madison Square Garden.
Even so, Taylor felt beating Briton Cameron “definitely feels like the greatest night of my career so far”.
The tale of the a brutal bout was visible on Taylor’s face. Her left side was badly bruised and swollen as she spoke to the media backstage at the 3Arena.
Cameron was every inch the undefeated, undisputed light-welterweight champion who had been untouchable in 18 fights. No fighter, not even Taylor, had been able to match her before Saturday.
The defending champion was superb in the final three rounds, applying incredible pressure on Taylor, who somehow managed to stay on her feet and avoid what could have been a disastrous 10-8 round against her.
Cameron did not complain when a potential knockdown against Taylor in the first round was ruled to be a slip by the referee. She applauded Taylor when the scorecards went against her.
Fellow two-weight undisputed champion Claressa Shields wrote on social media: “Salute both women, it takes two to tango.”
A trilogy fight between Taylor and Cameron is now on the cards, in what would be the first super-fight in women’s boxing to enter a third chapter.
“To have a trilogy would be iconic for the sport,” Taylor said. “Even better if we could have it at Croke Park, with 80,000 people.
“That’s the stadium we all wanted for the homecoming so that would be absolutely amazing if that happened.”
Taylor and Cameron’s promoter Eddie Hearn has drawn his battle lines with Croke Park officials.
Earlier this year he spoke at length about how the bosses of the Gaelic games’ stadium had priced Taylor out of her dream homecoming, much to the annoyance of said bosses.
It is clear after the support shown for Taylor over the last two fights that she is capable of selling out Croke Park.
Hearn named Cameron and a rematch with Amanda Serrano as the only two fights that “warranted” the stage that the Dublin venue would provide.
However, he pivoted from appealing to Croke Park’s sense of patriotism to criticising the stadium for demanding costs beyond that of Wembley Stadium in London.
“Everyone has got to put the pressure on, from the country to the politicians to the sport,” Hearn said.
“If they can’t understand the compassionate side of giving this night and this event to their greatest ever athlete, then I don’t really know what we’re doing.”
It seems retirement for 37-year-old Taylor is not on the cards. She improved her record to 23 fights with only one loss, saying she only ever watched “10 seconds” of the first fight with Cameron.
The world remains at Taylor’s feet as she turns her attention to one more epic night at Croke Park.
