‘She likes the idea of quietness' - What is Katie Taylor chasing now?

Irish Examiner

10 hours ago

Before the streaming giant's showcase event, before Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano descend on New York for a fight week bonanza that will include a face-off on top of the Empire State Building, Netflix has to build the hype. For that, they need Uma Thurman.
The Kill Bill star is the narrator for a new documentary titled 'Countdown: Taylor vs. Serrano' which focuses on the buildup to this Friday's trilogy. It is a serviceable reminder of what unfolded in their first showdown at Madison Square Garden and what led to the rematch in Texas for what proved to be the most-watched women's sports event in US history.
Thurman tells us about the few treats that exist in Taylor's life as an elite athlete. One of them is a grocery trip in her Connecticut base with her mother by her side. They can size up rib eyes and stack bottles of Gatorade uninterrupted. 47 days out from a blockbuster trilogy and hiding in plain sight, as Thurman summarises.
'In some ways I think it is nice to be able to be anonymous,' says her mother, Bridget.
'Particularly if you are a quiet person and an introvert. What exhausts Katie is trying to deal with people all the time.' This is the entire dichotomy that orbits around Taylor's legacy. The only place she looks truly at ease in the public glare is between the ropes. Everything else is tolerated. She operates in a commercial-charged fight business but only truly enjoys the fight.
'Grocery shopping back home would be a bit different,' her mother explains.
'Last year for my mom's birthday, we went up the town. I think we were in one shop for three hours. Even the people who were serving stopped. I mean, she can't walk down the street. She likes the idea of the quietness. Just being able to come back into her home and not be recognised by everybody. It is a contrast but both are nice.'
From that sanctuary, she steps into the city that never sleeps. The undisputed super lightweight champion and Brooklyn's Puerto Rican Serrano headline the first-ever all-women's card at the sweet science's most iconic venue. Somehow, the 39-year-old Bray boxer has found a new world to conquer.
This is her passion and her profession. From the start, Taylor's bond with her opponent stems from their boxing pedigree. Serrano represents the same boxing nation that produced Miguel Cotto. She follows in the footsteps of Barry McGuigan and Wayne McCullough. Her trainer Ross Enamait has utilised footage of past greats like Roy Jones and Buddy McGirt in preparation for previous bouts.
They appreciate and study the sport in a way many don't. After she avenged the only defeat of her career against Chantelle Cameron, Enamait arrived at the post-fight press conference with a t-shirt inspired by Roger Mayweather's famous quote: 'You don't know shit about boxing.' There is a cutthroat side to the fight game too. In the Netflix documentary, her father Pete Taylor wore a t-shirt inspired by Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard: 'We don't play boxing.' And yet, during her pre-fight press conference with Irish media, Taylor was at her most expressive when talking about her love of training camps.
'Getting your mindset right, the ups and downs of training camps,' she said warmly.
'I love all of it. Preparing for battle, preparing for fights. I've always been that way. From week to week, you see progress.
'You get sharper. You get stronger. You can see the progress from week to week. I never, ever take that for granted. I love my sport. I love the fact I get to do something I love every single day.'
Taylor has consistently stressed that this can't last forever. Having won both previous bouts, she's right when she says she doesn't need this fight as much as Serrano does. The fact that she accepted it speaks to an inherent desire to be at the centre of a defining contest, with her place in history already secured, regardless of how the next instalment unfolds.
This isn't a chase. It's a calling.