PETE TAYLOR WILL not be in his daughter Katie’s corner tonight as she takes on Shuana O’Keeffe for the Irish lightweight title at the National Stadium.
Taylor, who has cornered for Katie for more than a decade, will be replaced by his son Lee, with the interim Irish high performance head coach Zaur Antia also present for the 60kg bout.
Katie Taylor has won nearly 20 major titles since 2005 — including Olympic gold and five World titles — but her father says he’s just taking a break for tonight.
“After years it can be stressful watching your daughter fight,” he told the Irish Times.
“But I’ll be there in the crowd in the front. We are trying new things at the moment so we’ll see how it goes this time.”
According to RTÉ’s Darren Frehill, Taylor is expected to return to his daughter’s corner for the Olympic Games qualifiers in Turkey next April.
Taylor v O’Keeffe is just one of eight elite women’s finals set to take place at the National Stadium this evening.
