IRELAND'S ONLY boxing world champion went off with her friends yesterday morning to watch Ken Egan's final bout of this year's Olympic Games.
For Ireland's Katie Taylor, her life inside and outside the boxing ring means that friends who know little about the fight game ended up howling at the television anyway. They know too that in four years' time it could be their close friend they will be screaming for at the London Games of 2012.
Already the president of the International Amateur Boxing Federation has said he is quietly hopeful women's boxing will be included to shore up a glaring gender imbalance in the sport.
On Friday, Pat Hickey, president of the European Olympic Associations, said women's boxing had "a very good chance" of inclusion when a decision was taken this year on whether the Olympic schedule should be amended.
"Yeah, I hope that's the case," says Taylor. "I heard that the president of the international federation said there would be three or four weight divisions in London. People in the IOC know what's going on but I'll rest easier when it is made official. I am hoping one of those three or four weight divisions will be mine. There's a good chance of that because in my division there are a lot of boxers, always the most."
Taylor is no stranger to the team of five men that travelled to Beijing and has sparred or trained with all of them at some time. One of the faces in the crowd at the airport when they return on Tuesday will be hers.
"I was excited for the five of them being over there. Yeah, I had to sit there watching it knowing I could have been there. But I knew that it wasn't going to be the case for some time now so I was happy just to sit back and watch.
"Ken? Yeah, I thought he boxed well, maybe didn't get the points that he deserved, but just to be there and coming home with a silver medal is amazing. I'll be training with Ken now over the next few months because I'm part of the high-performance group and I'm looking forward to that."
The lightweight from Bray can afford to wait. When London comes around she will be 26 years old. But already her achievements are stellar.
In 2005 she won European Championship gold in Norway. The following year she won it again in Poland by stopping the reigning world champion from Russia, Tatiana Chalaya. She was also voted the best boxer at the tournament.
That was the beginning. There followed a World Championship gold in New Delhi, India, where she became Ireland's first world champion.
In 2007, she won her third successive European gold in Denmark in the 60-kilo class, and this year she travels to China for the World Championships.
"The World Championships are in November. That's all I'm training for now," she says. "I'd spar with Paddy Barnes or John Joe Nevin. I'd be able to do that but the other guys would be a bit big. But I just know I'm going to box in London. It's in my head that I am."
It's not just in her head. It's in the head of the Irish Sports Council, the Olympic Council of Ireland and the Irish boxing public. If it happens, Taylor may face unprecedented pressure to medal. But as with previous challenges, she would relish it.
