It was Ireland’s best ever boxing team, argues Pete Taylor, and yet they hadn’t improved on London 2012.
Pete Taylor is certainly getting about.
The boxing coach, who was in daughter Katie Taylor’s corner for her greatest successes, has given a few interviews in recent days and was a guest of TV3’s Sunday AM this morning.
The pair have parted sporting ways in the past year and Taylor has suffered as a result. Having been on a lengthy unbeaten streak coming into 2016, Taylor has lost three high-profile bouts.
Taylor believes the Irish Amateur Boxing Association made a big mistake in letting head coach Billy Walsh take up a similar role in America. He also suggested that Ireland coasted after their London 2012 achievements [one gold, two bronze] but his comments were somewhat contradictory:
“I think they [the IABA] thought all their boxers had to do was turn up.
“We had the strongest team going into Rio but we never moved on from London… What you did in London to be Olympic champion was never going to be enough in Rio. You have to move on.”
If the IABA had not moved on, how were they sending their ‘strongest team’ ever to Brazil and how had they performed so well in the intervening years?
Taylor did offer a valid, qualified opinion on Katie Taylor, saying her muscle mass had dropped in recent months. He believes she was over-trained.
As for the close call judging decisions that went against the likes of Michael Conlan, Joe Ward and his daughter, Taylor stressed that – due to subjective judges – it is up to the boxer to dominate their opponent and erase all doubt.
Massive Mayo v Tipperary preview plus a big interview with Eamon McGee in the latest GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes.
