OLYMPIC AND WORLD champion boxer Katie Taylor said she’s enjoying her “quiet life” in Connecticut with her husband since taking a break from boxing earlier this year.

Taylor, who recently tied the knot with Sean McCavanagh, was chatting with Patrick Kielty on tonight’s Late Late Show.

Earlier this year the boxer confirmed she would be taking a break from the sport and was recognised as a “Champion in Recess” by the World Boxing Council after beating Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden in the final leg of their trilogy in July.

Taylor said that due to her commitment to boxing, she never had the chance to focus on relationships before.

“Since I was a teenager, I’ve been so focused on boxing, I left very little room for relationships, and honestly, even the thought of a relationship was out of the way for me, so it’s lovely that love snuck up at a later stage in my career,” she said tonight.

Katie Taylor with her husband Sean McCavanagh. RTÉ RTÉ

“It’s definitely been a lovely and unexpected season for me,” she added.

Although she’s enjoying her break she said it’s taken some time getting used to: “I have to actually put in the effort not to train like I’m preparing for a fight”.

“Myself and my husband Sean live a lovely, quiet life in Connecticut, and we’re very happy, thank God”.

Sean is Irish American, but Taylor said he’s “one of those Irish-Americans who think they’re Irish”.

Taylor said this is the first time in 20 years she’s had time off from her sport – since she took part in Ireland’s first sanctioned female fight with Alannah Murphy at age 15 in 2001.

She recently showed her husband all the sights of her hometown Bray in Wicklow.

Family

The champion is currently home for Christmas to see family and friends – something she said she only gets to do a few times a year.

She said she and her dad, Pete Taylor, are closer than ever. Her dad was the Olympic champion’s trainer until they parted ways in 2015.

“That’s family isn’t it, it can be both complicated and beautiful,” she said, adding that she and her dad are now closer than ever.

“I stepped away from my dad as a coach, but he never stopped being my dad. We have been good for several years,” she said.

Her father recently spent several weeks with her in Connecticut helping her prepare for her fight against Serrano in July.

Thinking back to her Olympic fight without him as her trainer at Rio de Janeiro in 2015, where she lost against Finland’s Mira Potkonen, Taylor said there were moments she missed having her dad “in the corner”.

Taylor said that although the loss almost “almost crushed” her, it was the door to the greatest season of her life. “I wouldn’t have gone pro if it wasn’t for that loss,” she said.

Speaking on other aspects of her life, Taylor said her faith in God is “the most important” thing and her foundation.

“It doesn’t just help me in my fights, it helps me make sense of life. It is a worldview after all, and I view the world through the lens that God is real,” she said.

Written by Sophie Finn and posted on TheJournal.ie