Katie Taylor stuns Sanchez to become World Champion

Nothing was going to distract her.

Everything that could have thrown Katie Taylor off to this point happened. Friday was a bit of a joke. Her opponent, Anahi Sanchez missed weight, twice but the world title was still up for grabs. It has been one hell of a journey for Taylor that involved five World Championship, six European Championships and an Olympic gold medal. And then she lost at Rio, the professional life loomed as the Bray fighter went under Eddie Hearn and has been on one heck of a ride, even fighting in Wembley Stadium. Six fights deep and Taylor was afforded a world title shot on the Anthony Joshua undercard in Cardiff. As Taylor entered the ring she was dubbed the greatest female amateur boxer of all time, the statistics certainly suggest it. But could she further her legacy as one of the greatest Irish athletes and one of the greatest athletes full stop, a national treasure had a platform to elevate her status and how Taylor did it. The difference in hand speed was clear from the start as Taylor worked at picking Sanchez apart and knocked her down in the second round, a perfect punch. It was only a matter of time from then as Sanchez was looking to hang on as she tried to turn it into a tear up. Sanchez was certainly no pushover, however, trying to counterpunch Taylor and look for big hits throughout the fight but it wasn't to be. Taylor couldn't quite get the knockout she clearly wanted but it was a masterclass from start to finish, it was an easy points victory. A unanimous decision it was scored 99-90 by all three judges and Ireland has a new world champion.