'I would not be here now if I had won gold in Rio' - Katie Taylor

Katie Taylor enjoyed unparalleled success as an amateur boxer, winning five world championships, as well as securing the Olympic gold medal at the London Games in 2012.

Since moving into the professional ranks, the Irish boxing sensation has gone 20 fights undefeated, en route to become the undisputed lightweight champion of the world.

And yet, ahead of the biggest women's boxing match in history of the sport, as Taylor takes on Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden, the Irish Bray native is convinced that she would not have made it this far had it not been for the disappointment of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Champion at the inaugural event in 2012, where women’s boxing was introduced for the very first time, Taylor set about defending her title in Rio four years later.

But Katie would come unstuck at the first hurdle in Brazil, resulting in an illustrious amateur career coming to a close in very unfamiliar circumstances.

Taylor would attempt to put the disappointment of Rio out of her mind as she embarked on a professional career in the sport, working alongside renowned promoter Eddie Hearn.

Twenty fights later and four world title belts in her possession, Taylor is now the talk of the sporting world this weekend, as she puts her undisputed title on the line against Puerto Rican New Yorker Serrano.

But for Taylor, she looks back on that disappointing Olympic campaign in 2016 and is convinced that the disappointment of the quarter-final defeat to Mira Potkonen had led her on the path to glory in the professional ranks

"There definitely is," said Katie, when asked whether she felt that Saturday’s fight somewhat mirrors the gold medal fight in 2012.

"Obviously the biggest moment of my amateur career was the Olympic gold in