Katie Taylor ‘proud to make history’ as two-weight champ

Irish fighter Katie Taylor has said she was “proud to make history” after becoming a two-weight world boxing champion with a unanimous points win over Christina Linardatou.

The 33-year-old from Bray claimed the WBO super-lightweight title in a hard-fought encounter in Manchester on Saturday night.

Taylor follows in the footsteps of Carl Frampton and Steve Collins to become only the third fighter from Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland to hold titles in two weight classes.

“I’m making history again, breaking boundaries again, and I’m a two-weight world champion and there’s still more to come," Taylor told Sky Sports after the bout.

“I thought I boxed beautifully on the outside and I didn’t get sucked into a fight.”

After a cagey start to Saturday’s 10-round showdown, Taylor slowly upped the tempo.

She was also on the receiving end of some big shots though - which saw her right eye swell – and was caught by a left hook early in the fifth round.

As the fight entered the latter stages, Taylor had to respond again following another powerful left from her 31-year-old opponent.

However, Taylor rallied for the closing stages, landing a big punch in the final round that removed Linardatou’s gumshield and ignited the crowd.

With neither fighter able to produce a finish, the result went to the judges’ scorecards, which fell in Taylor’s favour 96-94, 97-93 and 97-93.

Her record now stands at 15-0 and she has also unified the entire lightweight division, with a clean sweep of the WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF titles.