I think it's important to feel those losses because I never want to feel like that again.
— Katie Taylor
I know MMA isn't for everyone. It is a combat sport; some people don't like watching it, but it is entertainment for some people.
I could have 10 kids or be boxing until I'm 40.
The thing with professional boxing is you have to have the right promoter and the right fights. It is a cut-throat business.
As long as I still feel a passion for the sport and preparing for these big competitions, I will carry on fighting.
It's great to be boxing a local boxer. The atmosphere is always fantastic. I love those fights. I really relish those fights.
There is an awful lot of pressure on me.
I love being the favourite of every competition.
I am European Games champion now as well as Olympic champion, European champion, and world champion.
I never think too far ahead.
I became number one just after the World Championships in India. I was very young then, and I remember it was just a great feeling, my first World Championship.
It doesn't matter who other people are saying the favourite is; I'm still going in to win the gold medal.
It's so true: the fight is won or lost in the gym, and those words really stuck with me throughout my career.
I want to tell girls, it's not about make-up and how you look that's important; you are so much more than how you look.
I love playing for Ireland, and I love soccer, but when it comes down to it, I would choose boxing as my number one sport, as I'd miss it too much if I wasn't involved.
I wouldn't really call myself a feminist. I obviously want equality and equal opportunities to the men.
I know how it feels to lose.
I'm a huge fan of Conor McGregor, an incredible athlete. What he has done for MMA is phenomenal; he has been a great supporter of me.
With amateur boxing, you're just entered into a competition. And to be the best, you've got to beat the best. You're not waiting around to get these fights organised.
I've been offered a few professional contracts... in the hundreds and thousands.
I'm not going to be boxing forever, but I've put no time-cap on it, really.
I have a lot of confidence in myself, and I love that challenge as well. I love going to every competition as the favourite. It's something I relish.
I'm in a privileged position, but I still feel like the best is yet to come, and people still haven't seen the best of me yet, and that is so exciting for me.
There's a lot of people on the way up who want to take my place, so it's up to me to continue to improve.
I want to go down in the history books as one of the greatest female boxers of all time, and I think I'm on the right path.
I've a great group of people, a great family behind me all the way, all the time. You cannot underestimate that.
I look at what's in front of me. I concentrate on that and then hopefully move on.
Every fight has been hard. Every world title I've won has been hard fought, and every European title I've won has been hard fought as well.
You're clearing your mind during a workout. Boxing is a great sport for girls; it's really safe.
There's not a lot of positive role models of women in newspapers and magazines. I think it puts pressure on girls. They think that the image put out, it's the way you have to look.
I would love to be able to speak my own language and maybe have an interview in Irish, maybe after my fights.
I love all sorts of food, chocolate especially. I eat well, but I like the odd Chinese, like anyone!
I'd love to have a chance to fight in the World Series Boxing for women, but nothing has been done about that.
I've had losses in my career before, and I've always come back stronger from those losses.
You have to make sure you have the right people around you to get the right fights, and you're not guaranteed to get the best fights.
I have stayed positiv,e and I believe I am still improving in every competition I enter.
I'm honoured and delighted to be named the 'Irish Times'/Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Year 2014. This has been an amazing year for me and for Irish women in sport, and I would like to congratulate all the finalists in their respective fields who have excelled at major sporting events.
The best boxers don't always qualify for the Olympics. You can easily have a bad day, but please God, that won't happen to me.
I'm the one that everyone is trying to beat.
When you're so consistent, people have to stand up and take notice. I don't think people recognise or praise consistency enough.
I want to leave a great legacy behind me and continue to win major championships.
I tend to think year-by-year and tournament-by-tournament.
I'm just sorry I couldn't come home with a second Olympic gold medal.
No world championship has been easy for me.
Sport is a great way to keep fit. It's a stress reliever.
Fighting at the Olympics has been my lifelong dream, and I cannot believe I am there now.
I just happen to be a woman and involved in sport, but that doesn't necessarily make me a feminist.
My training diet can be quite strict when I'm coming up to competition; it's a weight-making sport, of course. But I eat quite healthily anyway, and it's less strict when out of competition.
