Irish, European, World and Olympic Champion Katie Taylor has explained her reasons for contemplating turning pro with boxing, while insisting that she would love to become a two-time Olympic champion.
The 27-year-old Bray native admitted that she has had a "frustrating" year and feels like she hasn't been offered the "same opportunities as the lads" in her sporting field.
Speaking to Brendan O'Connor on The Saturday Night Show, Katie said: "It's been a bit of a frustrating year for me. I felt like I wasn't getting the same opportunities as the lads with the WSB [World Series of Boxing].
"Even when you're going over to these competitions - I had the European Union chatting to me a few months ago. Maybe there was only 30 - 40 people at the competition in a little tent."
She continued: "It's just really bad conditions to be boxing in. There's no air conditioning in the venue. It can be quite frustrating at times. Last year was such an amazing year for women's boxing. They [WSB] should have really pushed on with that."
Katie further explained: "The WSB has been moving on with the men. They had five weight categories for them and they put it up to ten weight categories for them this year. We were promised that a world series was going to go ahead for women but nothing has happened about it.
"When you're not getting those kind of opportunities it kind of forces you to think of the pro game more," Taylor said.
However, the gold medal winner revealed that her heart is set on becoming a champion once again, saying: "I did think about it but my heart isn’t in the professional game. My focus is very much on Rio in a few years.
"That’s what I'm focusing on at the moment.
Hopefully everything goes well over the next few years. I'd love to become a two-time Olympic champion. That's very much my focus for the next few years."
