There’s nothing I enjoy more than a good pub debate, you know the ones, those age-old discussions which rumble on for weeks, causing mass consternation and resentment but never getting fully resolved. I’ll give you a few examples: Would a prime Tyson have beaten Ali in his pomp? (Probably not). Were Man United’s 1999 treble winners better than the great Liverpool sides of the eighties? (I think so). Who would make the all-time greatest rugby XV of all time? (No idea). And so on.
But it’s rare that a contemporary name comes along and alters the flow of these conversations. We prefer to live in the past, extolling the virtues of players we might never even have seen, rose-tinted glasses affording our childhood favourites an extra yard of pace, a further spring in their step. There are some figures however, who demand inclusion, their names writ large in any arguments about the greatest of all time. Names like Federer, Bolt, Woods; legends in their own lifetimes, the best that ever did it.
And this coming weekend another modern-day icon may force her way into a debate which has raged for years and will no doubt rage for many more. On Saturday evening, at the Millennium Stadium, Katie Taylor will bid to win her first professional title when she fights Anahi Esther Sanchez for the WBA Lightweight belt. Although this is just her seventh bout in the paid ranks, Taylor is hotly tipped to dethrone the Argentinian champion. And if she does so she will, in my opinion, become the greatest Irish sportsperson of all time.
Agree? Disagree? Regardless of your viewpoint, whether you believe that no-one will ever surpass Padraig Harrington, that Paul McGrath is the numero uno, or that Stephen Roche’s exploits in 1987 earn him top spot, you cannot argue with Taylor’s credentials. Five World Championship golds, six Europeans, and that all-elusive Olympic title have etched the Bray woman’s name in history. That she has revolutionised her sport and, almost single-handedly, been responsible for its inclusion in the Olympic Games, merely adds to her resumé.
However, it’s what’s happened in the past eighteen months which really cements her status. Following an unparalleled run of success, where defeats were so rare that each one was enough to send shockwaves across the country, Taylor suddenly floundered. A split with her long-time trainer and father, Peter, resulted in a scarcely-believable loss of form, a paltry bronze in the 2016 World Championships was followed by an early exit at the Rio Olympics. It appeared as if the golden girl had run her race, all washed-up at the age of 29.
But can you ever really be called the greatest without undergoing some sort of renaissance, without embarking on a road to retribution, coming back against all the odds? In Taylor’s case that might be overegging the pudding, but there were genuine concerns when she announced her decision to turn pro in the wake of her limp performance in Rio. Many questioned her durability, suggesting that there were simply too many miles on the clock for a fighter who’d been competing at the top level for over a decade.
Taylor has made light of those concerns and now stands on the brink of history, within touching distance of a professional title to go along with all her amateur gongs. And it’s unlikely she’ll stop there. To truly be the best in modern boxing you must unify the titles, take all the belts and then defend them till there’s no-one left to defend against. By the time she hangs up her gloves Taylor will have done that. The opposition is stern enough, but she is the greatest female boxer of all time and a class above everyone in her division.
Even if she doesn’t, even if she somehow falters, I will always make an argument for Katie being our greatest ever athlete. Because it’s not just about the litany of titles and achievements, it’s not even about the way she’s made women’s boxing relevant, what really makes her stand apart from the rest is her demeanour, the way she carries herself, the humility and grace she displays at all times. In an age of money-grabbing grandiloquence it’s continually refreshing to see a sportsperson so talented, so viciously effective at what she does, come across as just a normal human being any time she’s interviewed. But, as we’ll see on Saturday night, Katie Taylor is anything but normal.
