Katie Taylor, four defenses of her lightweight title of the World Boxing Association (WBA), have allowed her to be voted by the specialized panel of the pioneer organization as the best boxer of the year, putting the finishing touch to a sensational 2018.

The charismatic Irish fighter, who was an Olympic Champion in 2012 in London, gave women’s boxing a touch of freshness in the last 12 months. She showed qualities rarely seen with a combination of speed, technique, conditioning, and aggressiveness that elevated her to be a candidate for fighter of the year next to two other great WBA champions in Claressa Shields and Cecilia Braekhus.

The Bray native had four fights in the year, starting with a defense against Victoria Bustos in April after winning the belt in October of 2017 against Anahi Sanchez. Katie won a unanimous decision at the Barclays Center in this fight. In the month of July, she shined at the English O2 Arena when she knocked out Kimberly Connor in three rounds for her second defense of the year.

But the best was yet to come for Katie, because in October she beat the well-known Puerto Rican fighter Cindy Serrano in Boston on the scorecards to consolidate as world champion. After that she closed the year brilliantly just this December defeating Eva Wahlstrom at Madison Square Garden, handing the Finnish fighter her first professional loss.

At 32 years of age and a professional record of 12 wins, five of them by knockout, and no losses, Katie Taylor has become a benchmark of international boxing. Surely she will be a champion to follow in the coming year with many more exciting fights in the way.

With her performances in the last 12 months Katie was placed as one of the best female fighters in the sport next to Cecilia Braekhus, Claressa Shields, Amanda Serrano, Mariana Juarez, Jackie Nava, Yesica Bopp, and some other bright fighters on the international scene.