You wouldn’t like her when she’s hungry.
She may be widely viewed as the nation’s golden girl, but Katie Taylor claims that weight struggles have been a “nightmare” in recent years, with Ireland’s 2012 Olympic champion claiming she “wasn’t a nice person to be around” in her 15-year effort to boil down to 132lbs (60kg).
While that was her weight as an amateur, Taylor’s first two professional bouts were also capped at that limit as she attempted to adjust to the paid game.
However, Taylor’s six-round bout against Italian Monica Gentili on Saturday night will be held at the regular professional lightweight limit (135lbs), with the pair having weighed in at London’s O2 Arena this afternoon.
Taylor clocked the scales at 9st 8lbs 3oz, while Gentili weighed in at 9st 8lbs 5oz, and the Bray native has found fight week less of a struggle as a result.
Yet while the weight gain may have helped her mood outside the ropes, the 30-year-old reckons it will also help her become more aggressive in the ring.
“The last two times before I made 132lbs, the last week or two before the weigh-in was just a nightmare for me really,” explained Taylor.
“I wasn’t a nice person to be around, really!
“So at least I get some more food into me. That will benefit me during the fight as well, and especially when I go for 10-round fights or whatever, you don’t need to be struggling that much making the weight,” added the London 2012 gold medallist.
Team Taylor’s reasoning for the 132lbs catch-weight limit in her first two pro bouts against Karina Kopinska and Viviane Obenauf appeared to be trial-and-error effort.
They wanted to see how the 30-year-old would cope before possibly moving down to super-featherweight (130lbs) in order to chase a title at the lower weight.
The long-term idea was to tee up the Bray woman to potentially become a multi-weight world champion, setting her up to move back up to lightweight (135lbs).
For now, that idea seems to have been scrapped and Taylor believes the extra few pounds will aid her performances.
“I think so,” said Taylor. “Definitely the last couple of times I made 132, I definitely really struggled making that weight.
“I can at least have a lot more food and I feel a lot healthier at 135lbs. It’s still a bit of a struggle even making 135, but I definitely feel a lot better at this weight,” added the five-time amateur world champion, who is a 1-100 favourite against Gentili – a 25-1 underdog.
The 39-year-old – a replacement opponent after Bulgarian world-title challenger Milena Koleva pulled out of the bout due to illness – has campaigned both above and below the lightweight limit.
Gentili has won six and lost six, with one stoppage defeat, and the Lazio native claimed the opportunity to fight former Olympic champion Taylor was too good to turn to turn down despite the short notice
“I maybe could have done with a bit more time to train, but I wanted to take the fight because it’s an honour to fight her,” said Gentili.
Taylor’s s six-rounder features on the undercard of the big heavyweight clash between David Haye and Tony Bellew on Sky Box Office on Saturday night, with the Bray woman expected to be in the ring around 10pm.
