Irish women picking up the boxing baton after incredible year

Such was the excitement, the atmosphere and the sense of occasion in New York, that it was always going to be the boxing highlight of the year as Katie Taylor topped the bill at Madison Square Garden.

A unique and historic night in mid-town Manhattan as Katie put all her world titles on the line against the teak-tough Amanda Serrano, and came out with all five belts intact.

As hard a fight as she has ever encountered, the packed-out iconic arena got more than their money's worth as the ten-round world title contest covered every emotion available for the Puerto Ricans, the travelling Irish and the New York fight fans.

An incredible night and the climax of another of another trailblazing travail through the professional ranks of the oft-complex boxing world, a road not too dissimilar to the one a younger version of herself walked all the way to Olympic gold in 2012.

The summit reached on that last night of April, however, not the end for Taylor who scoffed at speak of retirement as she plots another chapter or three of her amazing journey through the this sweetest of science.

Taylor was back in the ring for a business-as-usual defence of her belts, beating Karen Carabajal via a unanimous decision at the Wembley Arena October.

So it was no surprise really that the Bray boxer picked up her third RTE Sport Sportsperson of the Year award earlier this month, and expect more fireworks from Katie in 2023, as she eyes that arena fight in Dublin to finally fight as a professional in her homeland.

Kellie Harrington opted against following Taylor into the professional ranks following her incredible 2021 when she brought the gold medal home from the Tokyo Olympics.

Instead the genial Dubliner focused on the next edition of the Games, which