29 December 2020

Katie Taylor ‘thankful and honoured’ to be named The Ring magazine’s Female Fighter of the Year for second time

Katie Taylor has been named The Ring magazine’s Female Fighter of the Year for a second successive time.

The prestigious award, which has been running since 1928, has only been won in back-to-back years by seven other fighters - Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, Ingemar Johansson, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Manny Pacquiao.

Taking to Instagram, she said: "A great way to cap off the year! Very thankful and honoured."

Taylor receives the award having fought twice this year, beating Delfine Persoon and Miriam Gutierrez by unanimous decision.

The pair of victories mean she remains the undisputed lightweight champion and extends her unbeaten record as a professional to 17-0.

Her win over Persoon in August came in another close fight after their brutal first clash in June 2019 was controversially awarded to Taylor.

The Irish superstar proved her toughness to come through some difficult moments and win on all three judges’ scorecards.

She then produced an utterly dominant display less than two months later when the quick turnaround saw her box her mandatory Gutierrez.

Taylor defended her world titles twice in 2020

(Twitter: @MatchroomBoxing)

And the 2012 Olympic gold medalist proved far too much for the Spaniard as she won every round in a sensational display.

The winner of The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year award for male boxers was shared between WBC heavyweight champion and unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez.

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