Katie Taylor
Statistics
Rated at	60 kg
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Nationality	Irish
Born	(1986-06-02) June 2, 1986 (age 26) Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
Stance	Orthodox
Medal record Medal record Competitor for  Ireland Women’s Boxing World Amateur Championships Gold 2006 New Dehli 60 kg Gold 2008 Ningbo 60 kg Gold 2010 Barbados 60 kg Gold 2012 Qinhuangdao 60 kg European Amateur Championships Gold 2005 Tønsberg 60 kg Gold 2006 Warsaw 60 kg Gold 2007 Vejle 60 kg Gold 2009 Mykolaiv 60 kg Gold 2011 Rotterdam 60 kg European Union Amateur Championships Gold 2008 Liverpool 60 kg Gold 2009 Pazardzhik 60 kg Gold 2010 Keszthely 60 kg Gold 2011 Katowice 60 kg

Katie Taylor (born 2 June 1986) is an Irish boxer and footballer. She studied at St. Kilian's Community School Bray from 1999-2005. Katie's 2 older brothers Peter and Lee and older sister Sarah also went to St. Kilians. She is the current Irish, European, and world women's boxing champion. She had also represented the Republic of Ireland in association football.

Career[link]

Boxing[link]

Katie Taylor started boxing (coached by her father Peter, himself a successful amateur boxer) in 1998, aged 12. Her first noteworthy success was at the 2005 European Amateur Championships, in Tønsberg, Norway. She won the gold medal, defeating Eva Wahlström of Finland in the final of the 60 kg lightweight class. Later that year, at the World Amateur Championships in Podolsk, Russia, Taylor advanced to the quarter-finals in the 60 kg weight class.

At the 2006 European Amateur Championships in Warsaw, Poland, Taylor won her second successive gold medal by stopping reigning world champion Tatiana Chalaya of Russia, also collecting the tournament's Best Boxer award. At that year's World Amateur Championships, contested in New Delhi, India, Taylor became Ireland's first World Champion, defeating Chalaya again in the semi-final and then Annabella Farias of Argentina in the 60 kg final.

In 2007 she won her third successive European Championship title in Denmark.^[1] In August 2008, she claimed her second consecutive Witch Cup gold medal in Hungary, following an inside-the-distance win in the 60 kg final against Wahlström.

Katie went on to claim her second World title at the 2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, contested in November at Ningbo, China. In the 60 kg weight class, she defeated China's Cheng Dong in the final match which was her 100th bout.^[2]

On March 21, 2009 at the The O2 (Dublin), Ireland, Katie won a 27-3 win over thee time Pan American champion Caroline Barry of the United States on the undercard of a pro WBA super bantamweight world title fight between Bernard Dunne of Ireland and Ricardo Cordoba of Panama. Speaking after the fight, Taylor, who had stopped Barry in the final of the 2006 World Championships in New Delhi, said she was stunned by the welcome she received from Irish boxing fans. She said: "I couldn't believe the reception I got - it was an amazing experience for me. I knew it was going to be a tough fight and well done to her for never backing off."

Taylor won gold at the Russian Multi-Nations event at the Sports Palace in St Petersburg in July 2009 chalking up her 39th consecutive victory – and her 60th win in her last 61 bouts.^[3] She also went on to win her fourth successive European Championship title in September 2009 in Ukraine without conceding a point [2]. She picked up another gold medal at the 2010 European Union Championships in Hungary.

On 18 September 2010, Taylor went on to claim her third successive World title at the 2010 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, in Barbados. In the 60 kg weight class, she again defeated China's Cheng Dong in the final match.^[4] This was Taylor's 100th career win.

Taylor won her second International Boxing Association (AIBA) World female boxer of the year award at a ceremony in Almaty, Kazakhstan in November 2010 [3].

She won Gold Medal at the EU Women Boxing Championships in Katowice, Poland in 2011. [4][5]

On 19 May 2012, Taylor won her fourth successive World title at the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, in Qinhuangdao China. In the 60 kg weight class, she defeated Russian southpaw Sofya Ochigava [6].

Football[link]

As well as boxing, Taylor plays with the Ireland Women's senior football team. She scored in the opening UEFA 2009 qualifying round win over Hungary on 1 April 2007. She scored again and got sent off in a 4-1 loss in Italy on the 16th of February 2008.^[5] She came on as sub for Ireland days after coming back from Ukraine.^[6] Previously, she had played with the national teams at the U-17 and U-19 levels.

Katie also played Gaelic football with her local GAA club, Fergal Óg, Bray, and on a few brief occasions with Bray Emmets Under 14.

As for her preferred sport, "I love playing for Ireland, and I love soccer, but when it comes down to it I would choose boxing as my number one sport as I'd miss it too much if I wasn't involved."

Honours[link]

Advertising[link]

Taylor appeared in a Lucozade Sport advertisement in 2011 alongside English rapper Tinie Tempah and American musician Travis Barker. Her advertising of Lucozade was branded "disgusting" by the chairman of the Irish Heart Foundation Nutrition Council due to concerns that it sent the wrong message on childhood obesity.^[7][8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site

Natasha Jonas (born June 18, 1984 in Toxteth, Liverpool^[1][2]) is a British boxer, "part of Great Britain's elite female boxing squad".^[3]

Initially intending to be a footballer, she spent eighteen months in the United States on a football scholarship, before returning to the United Kingdom and studying media studies at Edge Hill University, Lancashire. She took up boxing in 2005, and by 2010 had won the English Amateur Boxing Association championships five times, as well as the European Championships in the lightweight division in 2009, defeating Bulgaria's Margarita Chaneva in the final.^[4][5]

She "was ranked in the world's top 10 at her previous weight category of 64kg", before moving to lightweight. In 2010, the BBC noted she was "being tipped to lead Britain's medal challenge" at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where women's boxing will feature for the first time.^[6]

She currently works for the Toxteth council "and does part-time youth work".^[7][8]

External links[link]

• Natasha Jonas (Official Website) natashajonas.co.uk
• "Natasha Jonas’s weight of expectation", The Times, August 16, 2009
• Natasha's exclusive training diary in the build up to London 2012 for Livefight '

References[link]

Medal record
Competitor for  Ireland
Men’s Boxing
Olympic Games
Bronze	2008 Beijing	Light Flyweight
European Amateur Championships
Gold	2010 Moscow	Light Flyweight
EU Amateur Championships
Silver	2008 Cetniewo	Light Flyweight
Competitor for  Northern Ireland
Men’s Boxing
Commonwealth Games
Gold	2010 Delhi	Light Flyweight

Patrick Barnes, more commonly known as Paddy Barnes, (born 9 April 1987) is an Irish amateur boxer from Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Barnes represented Ireland in the light-flyweight division at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, where he won a bronze medal.

Career[link]

Provincial and national titles[link]

Barnes, represents the Holy Family ABC in Belfast and won the Ulster title in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He has faced Jimmy Moore from the St. Francis club in Limerick in each of his national finals being runner up in 2006 but winning the All-Ireland title 2007 and 2008.^[1][2][3]

2006 Commonwealth Games[link]

Barnes represented Northern Ireland at the 2006 Commonwealth Games at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Barnes was defeated in the quarter finals by Swaziland's Simanga Shiba, although Barnes had been leading at the half way point.^[4]

2007 EU Championships[link]

In 2007, Barnes suffered an eye injury the EU Championships which stopped him from winning a medal, later that year in July, Barnes competed at the Commonwealth Federation Championships in Liverpool, England.

Both Barnes and fellow Irish fighter Eamon O’Kane won gold medals in their respective divisions at the event. Barnes defeated India's Nanao Singh in his final.^[5][6][7]

2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships[link]

At the World Championships in Chicago Barnes missed out on a bronze medal after he was defeated by China's Zou Shiming in the quarter finals, Zou went on to win the gold medal. However, Barnes qualified for the 2008 Olympics by virtue of getting to the quarter finals.^[8][9][10]

• 1st Round – defeated Choi Jon Chuk ( North Korea) 33–19
• Round of 32 – defeated Sadegh Zade Faraj ( Iran) RSCO3 (30–10)
• Round of 16 – defeated Kenji Ohkubo ( Japan) 24–6
• Quarter final – lost to Zou Shiming ( China) 8–22

2008 Olympics[link]

Barnes won Ireland's first medal of the 2008 games by winning his quarter final bout in the light flyweight division. Barnes won a bronze medal after he was again defeated by Shiming Zou, this time in the semi-final, in a match where replays showed some of Barnes landed punches counted as points for Zou.^{[citation needed]}

• Round of 32 – bye
• Round of 16 – defeated José Luis Meza  Ecuador 14–8
• Quarter final – defeated Łukasz Maszczyk  Poland 11–5
• Semi final – lost to Zou Shiming  China 0–15

2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships[link]

On 12 June 2010, Barnes won the gold medal in the light flyweight division at the 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships. Barnes, a 4–1 winner over Azerbijan's Elvin Mamishzade, was 1–0 up at the end of the first round, 3–1 ahead at the end of the second and sealed the victory with a final point in the third for 4–1.^[11]

2010 Commonwealth Games[link]

Barnes represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the light flyweight division.^[12] He won the gold medal, defeating Namibia's Jafet Uutoni 8–4 in the final.

• Round of 16 – defeated Iain Butcher  Scotland 4–2
• Quarter final – defeated Andrew Moloney  Australia 5–3
• Semi final – defeated Amandeep Singh  India 5–0
• Final – defeated Jafet Uutoni  Namibia 8–4

References[link]

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Seán Bán Breathnach (known as SBB) is a radio and television broadcaster and personality in the Ireland. He broadcasts in the medium of the Irish language, but is well known to English speakers in the country.

Broadcasting[link]

Breathnach has presented several television and radio programmes and documentaries for the state broadcasting corporation Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Irish-language broadcasters TG4 and the RTÉ national-regional station RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. He is perhaps currently best known for his radio sports coverage.^[1]

He presented the first Irish language pop music programme on Raidió Éireann in 1969^[2] when he was 19 years old and his first television show, Imeall - a bilingual folk music show - soon followed. He hosted the show SBB ina Shuí with Gráinne Gleoite between 1976 and 1982. This was the highest-rated Irish-language television programme of all times, coming first in TAM ratings in 1979.^{[citation needed]}

Other work in television includes the community based programme Eadrainn Féin (1984–1986) and Scaoil Amach an Bobailín with Cynthia Ní Mhurchú (1990–1993) which attracted a viewership of over 600,000 in 1992.^{[citation needed]}

Since the arrival of TG4, Breathnach has been involved in many programmes, including Cleamhnas (where parents choose partners for their children) and a soccer programme, recounting of the influence of Celts on the modern game. In this series he interviewed Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane, Denis Irwin, Steve Heighway, Jim Beglin, Tom Finney, Norman Whiteside, Paddy Crerand and many others.

In 1978 he was appointed to RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta staff. He works mainly with the Sports Department and presents the station’s flagship sports programme, Spórt an tSathairn, every Saturday between 2pm and 5pm. This programme features reports, interviews, previews, horse racing results in Ireland and England as well as the English Premier League results. In 1991, Breathnach won a Jacob's Award for his sports commentaries on Raidió na Gaeltachta.

Since February 2007 Breathnach presents a new hour-long music documentary Siar agus Aniar, on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta as part of the station's ANOCHT fm slot. The programme features major musical acts of the past thirty years or so, Irish and otherwise, including The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Stone Roses, Motown, etc.

He was one of the one pundits that said Portumna any chance at beating Ballyhale shamrocks (Kilkenny) in the All Ireland Club semi-final this year. Ollie Canning (Portumna Captain) was quoted on TG4 as saying so, at full time in Thurles after the match.

Craic[link]

Breathnach is often considered responsible for the popularisation of the borrowed Gaelicised word craic in the Irish language.^{[citation needed]} His catchphrase "Beidh ceol, caint agus craic againn" ("We'll have music, chat and crack"), precedes the use of the spelling "craic" and the use of the word in Irish language signs displayed outside Irish pubs. The word was subsequently reborrowed for the English language.

Sport and charitable work[link]

As a keen sportsman Breathnach is involved in his local GAA club "Cumann Micheal Breathnach". His work also involves the County Galway with his role as Oifigeach Gaeilge for the Galway County Football and Hurling Board.

In the summer of 2007 he took part in RTÉ One's Charity You're A Star to raise money and awareness for the Carers Association of Ireland. he was the runner-up.^[3]

Family[link]

Breathnach lives in Coill Rua, Indreabhan, Cois Fharraige in County Galway. He is married with four children. His wife Brighid is from another Gaeltacht area in County Waterford (An Rinn), and she is the daughter of former chairman of the GAA Munster Council, Nioclas Mac Craith. Brighid is also sister to sean-nos singer Carthach Mac Craith (former singer with Danu, and Liam Clancy's son-in-law) and cousin to Aine Ui Cheallaigh (Solo artist in the original Riverdance tour, and lead part in the ill-fated Broadway show 'The Pirate Queen'). His twins Lean and Cárthach both have roles in the TG4 drama series Aifric'. His eldest daughter Brighid is a part-time presenter on TG4 (An Tuath Nua, Luach ar Linne, and Thar Saile) and the second eldest Katie is teaching in a Gaelscoil in County Carlow.

See also[link]

• Breathnach

References[link]