"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play…it is war minus the shooting."
Katie Taylor
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Jason O’Toole, Dublin, Tea Pot Press, 2012 ISBN 978071715606
This pictorial biography - with accompanying explanatory text for each photograph – which charts the highlights of Katie’s magnificent career to date. It starts with how Katie made boxing history by participating in the first officially sanctioned women’s bout in Ireland. She was only 15 years old at the time. Her mother Bridget was a boxing referee.
Throughout the book, Katie’s Christian faith is simply assumed; it is an important part of who she is, as the following quotes show.
“As a born-again Christian, religion plays a vital role in the psychological make-up of this Irish boxing hero. She often quotes Psalm 18 to the press, praising God post-match press conferences for being her ‘shield’ and her ‘strength’ when she steps into the ring. She also spoke of her belief that the prayers of a nation willed her on to her Olympic gold”.
“Prior to every fight, Katie’s pre-match ritual involves a routine of listening to Christian rock music on her iPod when she is warming up for the fight. She will then pray and recite Bible verses – particularly Psalm18 which is affectionately known among he church’s congregation as ‘Katie’s Psalm’ - with her mother, when Bridget is tying back her daughter’s hair”.
“Again, it would appear to be a contradiction to imagine someone with such strong religious values being involved in what many consider to be a violent sport. But this excerpt from Psalm 18 clearly sums up the motivation it instils in Katie before she steps inside the ring”.
“‘They are incredible verses that would be strength for every boxer,’ explained her Church pastor Sean Mullarkey to journalist Mark May ‘she has some of the verses hanging up in her training centre in Bray. A lot of the athletes can lose their focus or lose their peace – Katie has an amazing peace about her. All of these things [in Psalm 18] are in her head and her heart as she goes into battle and she knows she’s not alone”.
“But despite the violent imagery in Psalm 18. Katie insists that she doesn’t go into fights with an aggressive mentality, but rather focuses on the technical side of boxing to win. I think if you’re angry, that’s when you make stupid mistakes if you’re too aggressive, that’s when you get caught out. It is a thinking match in the ring all the time – you have to think about everything you do. The sport is highly technical…I’m always really focused in the ring, so anger isn’t a problem for me,’ she explained. ‘There’s been a few times when I’ve been boxing that my opponents have tried to make me angry but I’ve never succumbed to it. just stayed calm and kept going with my boxing’, she once told journalist Adrienne Murphy”.
It was Katie’s mother who first found God and then brought the rest of the family with her. Bridget believes that God is in her daughter’s corner. “We believe that everything that Katie has achieved comes from God, and what she’s doing is a gift from him. I always pray with her before every fight for protection and strength”, she said in 2011 to journalist Andrea Smith.
Like her mother, Katie believes that God called her into the ring. In an interview with Hot Press she said: “I just feel that this is exactly what he wants me to do, and I just want to honour him in everything I do and live a really great life for him… I think boxing is what I was born to do. Everyone has gifts and talents, and that’s what God wants you to do. I think it puts a big smile on God’s face when you’re doing what you were born to do”.
“God is my psychologist, the Bible is my sports psychology manual”, she once told The Irish Post.
As her mother puts it: “We believe that comes from God, and what she’s doing is a gift from him. I always pray with her before every fight for protection and strength. We aren’t praying for winning. It’s just putting things in his hands and praying that there will be no obstacles in the way and things like that. Even when it comes to negative comments from people, it’s important for Katie to know that everything is in God’s hands”.