KATIE TAYLOR LOST her world lightweight title as she suffered a shock defeat against Estelle Mossely of France in the semi-finals.
Taylor, who hadn’t been beaten at the world championships since 2005 and was bidding for her sixth straight gold, lost a tight decision on the judges’ cards in Astana.
It means that Taylor will have to settle for bronze, with Ireland’s hopes of gold now riding solely on Kellie Harrington who fights in the light-welterweight final on Friday.
Ireland’s reigning Olympic champion was ruled a clear 40-36 winner by one of the three judges, but the other two scored it a 38-38 draw.
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Under AIBA Rule 3.6, if two or more judges score the fight as a draw, the judges in question have to choose a winner — and both sided with Mossely.
AIBA
AIBA
With the top four in the 60kg division earning Olympic qualification, Taylor had already clinched her Rio place by virtue of winning her quarter-final on Tuesday.
But she was widely expected to continue her total dominance at world level and eclipse five-time champion Mary Kom as the most successful women’s boxer in history.
Instead, it was Mossely who nicked a win to set up a final against Anastasiia Beliakova of Russia.
This was a rematch of the final at last year’s inaugural European Games, which Taylor won, but it was clear from the opening bell that the Bray boxer was not going to have it all her own way.
Taylor was given the unanimous nod in a tight first round, but after a blistering two minutes played out at frenetic pace, two judges sided with Mossely in the second to leave the fight on a knife-edge.
It seemed that Mossely had done enough to take the third round but Taylor received an unlikely boost when, again, all three judges sided unanimously with her to put her into the lead ahead of the final round.
Mossely wasn’t to be shrugged off so easily, though, and her workrate late on caught the eye of the judges to earn her the narrowest of victories.
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World's End! Katie Taylor suffers shock defeat in world championship semis
Updated 16.05
KATIE TAYLOR LOST her world lightweight title as she suffered a shock defeat against Estelle Mossely of France in the semi-finals.
Taylor, who hadn’t been beaten at the world championships since 2005 and was bidding for her sixth straight gold, lost a tight decision on the judges’ cards in Astana.
It means that Taylor will have to settle for bronze, with Ireland’s hopes of gold now riding solely on Kellie Harrington who fights in the light-welterweight final on Friday.
Ireland’s reigning Olympic champion was ruled a clear 40-36 winner by one of the three judges, but the other two scored it a 38-38 draw.
Under AIBA Rule 3.6, if two or more judges score the fight as a draw, the judges in question have to choose a winner — and both sided with Mossely.
With the top four in the 60kg division earning Olympic qualification, Taylor had already clinched her Rio place by virtue of winning her quarter-final on Tuesday.
But she was widely expected to continue her total dominance at world level and eclipse five-time champion Mary Kom as the most successful women’s boxer in history.
Instead, it was Mossely who nicked a win to set up a final against Anastasiia Beliakova of Russia.
This was a rematch of the final at last year’s inaugural European Games, which Taylor won, but it was clear from the opening bell that the Bray boxer was not going to have it all her own way.
Taylor was given the unanimous nod in a tight first round, but after a blistering two minutes played out at frenetic pace, two judges sided with Mossely in the second to leave the fight on a knife-edge.
It seemed that Mossely had done enough to take the third round but Taylor received an unlikely boost when, again, all three judges sided unanimously with her to put her into the lead ahead of the final round.
Mossely wasn’t to be shrugged off so easily, though, and her workrate late on caught the eye of the judges to earn her the narrowest of victories.
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Going for gold! Kellie Harrington books her place in the world championship final
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Boxing Estelle Mossely Katie Katie Taylor Shock Women's World Boxing Championships