Katie Taylor on her sporting ‘hero’ Roy Keane and potentially following him into punditry

“I just thought that was amazing.”

Katie Taylor has spoken about her sporting ‘hero’ Roy Keane, and how he helped her in the ‘lowest moment’ of her career.

Ahead of her homecoming fight against Chantelle Cameron in Dublin at the 3Arena, Taylor sat down with SportsJOE for an exclusive interview.

Katie covered a range of topics, from her status as Ireland’s greatest sporting hero to her football career and her honest thoughts on Jake Paul.

The Bray boxer also spoke about her own sporting hero – Roy Keane.

Katie Taylor on her sporting ‘hero’ Roy Keane.

Back in 2016, she was the defending lightweight Olympic champion at the Rio Games and was expected to win her second gold medal following her heroics in London four years earlier.

Taylor, however, suffered a shock defeat in her opening bout of the tournament, losing by split decision to Finnish boxer Mira Potkonen.

Katie has since said that it was the ‘lowest moment’ of her life, but that a call from Keane, and his encouragement, helped her get over what was a crushing defeat.

“He gets new eyes on the sport.” 👀

Katie Taylor gives her honest view of @JakePaul🥊

Watch #KatieTaylor vs #ChantelleCameron, this Saturday 20th May, live only on DAZN. Sign-up at https://t.co/6wkPkUv6Mc

w/ @daznboxing#TaylorCameron @katie_t86 #JakePaul @petesycarroll pic.twitter.com/IJuZf855uj

— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 18, 2023

“After my loss in Rio, I got a phone call and it was a private number,” Katie told SportsJOE in an exclusive interview.

“I never usually answer private numbers, but for whatever reason I just answered it and it was Roy Keane at the end of the phone.

“I thought that was amazing. During the lowest moment of my life, my lowest point, my hero gives me a ring to encourage me and just to give me an encouraging word.

“I just thought that was absolutely incredible and I’ll never, ever forget that.”

Katie, who earned 11 caps for Ireland and scored two goals for the Girls in Green before turning to boxing full-time, also said that she admired Keane as a player and that she was inspired by his approach on the pitch.

“He was one of my sporting heroes growing up,” she said.

“I just love his mentality, and his no-nonsense attitude, he just never settled for second best, just an amazing competitor and a great leader.

It was put to Katie that she could potentially follow Keane into punditry, something she immediately shot down.

“I don’t think so! I’m definitely not as controversial as Roy is! He doesn’t care, doesn’t he not?!”

You can watch the full, exclusive interview with Katie below, with the section on Keane coming at 22:35.