In a shocking result, Katie Taylor has been defeated by Yana Alexseevna of Azerbaijan at the this afternoon’s European Olympic qualifying event in Turkey. A win this afternoon would have sealed Taylor’s place in this summer’s Rio Olympics. Following this defeat, she must now make the semi-finals of next month’s World Championship in Astana to have the chance to defend her 60kg lightweight title in Brazil.
The Bray champion had a strong start but the match was halted after the first minute to allow Alexseevna to have her gloves tightened. It was then that Taylor’s opponent found her rhythm and finished the round strongly and won a unanimous decision.
The match marks Taylor’s first defeat in an international tournament since Bulgaria in 2011.
