UNDISPUTED LIGHTWEIGHT BOXING champion Katie Taylor has been named RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year for 2020, a year during which she settled her rivalry with Belgian powerhouse Delfine Persoon and successfully headlined a momentous female world-title tripleheader live on Sky Sports against Miriam Gutierrez.
Elsewhere, the Young Sportsperson of the Year gong went to Oisin O’Callaghan after claiming a first ever downhill gold for Ireland at the Junior World Mountain Bike Championships in Austria. It was O’Callaghan’s first ever race at that level. The 17-year-old followed up his win in Austria with two stage wins at the recently held World Cup competition in Portugal.
The Limerick senior hurling team won the Team of the Year award after their All-Ireland hurling success, while their manager John Kiely won the Manager of the Year award.
Taylor edged out cyclist Sam Bennett, jockey Colin Keane, Dublin footballer Ciaran Kilkenny, Limerick hurler Gearóid Hegarty, and rower Sanita Puspure, and in doing so became just the fourth ever athlete to win RTÉ’s flagship sports award on more than one occasion (after Sonia O’Sullivan x5, Padraig Harrington x3 and Rory McIlroy x2).
Tonight’s honour follows Taylor’s second successive crowning as Female Fighter of the Year by both the Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), whose end-of-year awards are widely recognised as the most prestigious in her profession.
Taylor is also ranked by both boxing institutions as the pound-for-pound number-one female fighter on the planet following a pandemic-hit but still-glittering career year.
In August, she again warred with nemesis Persoon in a long-awaited and sensational rematch at Matchroom’s Fight Camp, winning a close but deserved unanimous decision just over a year after she contentiously edged out the formerly long-reigning WBC lightweight champion on a narrower, majority-decision verdict.
Taylor’s rematch victory over Persoon was chosen as the most memorable Irish sporting moment of 2020 with 32% of the vote in the annual Teneo Sport and Sponsorship index, a comprehensive 1,000-person national survey whose results were released on Tuesday, followed by Sam Bennett’s green-jersey win at the Tour de France (15%).
In November, the former Olympic champion became the main-event attraction for the first time in a Saturday-night primetime slot on Sky Sports, dominating the teak-tough Gutierrez in a mandatory defence. Though the Spaniard was written off as being an unworthy opponent by some post-fight detractors, she had in fact been boxing competitively for 21 years, winning four Spanish Elite titles in two weight categories as an amateur before turning pro a year after Taylor in 2017. Guiterrez was made to look like a novice, however, by the Bray woman, who produced an exquisite offensive performance to seal a near shutout win on the scorecards and improve her record to 17-0(6KOs).
The Taylor-Gutierrez bout and its supporting Matchroom card — including two other female world-title fights — were made available to watch for free on Sky Sports Mix and Sky’s online platforms. The broadcast was viewed well over two million times in total, with 600,000 of those tuning in on television in Ireland and Britain in what was a major breakthrough for women’s professional boxing.
Taylor was later nominated for the BBC’s ‘World Sports Star’ award for 2020, which was eventually won by undefeated mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The all-time boxing great is now one of the highest-earning female athletes on the planet. Her 2020 rematch with Persoon alone was understood by The42 to be worth somewhere in the region of €1.5m to Taylor, who along with her seven-figure fight purse pocketed a significant share of the Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view revenue in Ireland.
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey chat Six Nations and its future, the contractual bottleneck and French interest in Irish stars, Leone Nakarawa’s arrival in Belfast, and the poor standard of officiating in rugby :
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Legend
Our best sports person ever well done Katie
@Sean O Dowd: I think Padraig Harrington has that title. But Katie is a legend though
@Jamie Bent: steady on there
@Jamie Bent: you and the Sean Kelly lads can shag off.. KT is the best.. And she hasn’t finished yet.. I’m not taking away from them lads but it’s wrong to not recognise KT being above everyone.
@Togs: Christ calm down there. It’s just an opinion and mine is that Katie (through no fault of her own) is in a sport with no real talented people outside of herself to challenge her!
@Jamie Bent: who??
@Togs: Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche achieved legendary status in one of the toughest sports in the world and they competed against multiple legends of a long established sport. Women’s boxing currently doesn’t have a comparable depth of competition. This is not to diminish KT’s exceptional achievements. As for Harrington being touted as our greatest sportsperson, there’s one glaring problem. Golf is one of the most skillful and difficult sports to play even at a mediocre level, the pros are practically wizards, but when physiques/lifestyles like Angel Cabrera, Darren Clarke and John Daly can be amongst the best of a sport, that sport cannot compare to aforementioned sports. There are many criteria to fill for greatest sportsperson, physical ability has to be near the top of that list.
@Jamie Bent: don’t forget Sonia O’Sullivan.
@The Sports Derd: cycling….. a sport rampant with drugs and cheats for the last 40 years. Will ya stop. As for Katie. She’s fantastic but it’s a sport wit a very limited number of competitors yet along top class ones. Not her fault and in the current climate def Ireland’s best.
@The Sports Derd: Did you really bring up that drug fést as an example of sport?? Wow..!
@Martin Glynn: haha what a laugh. you’re criticising cycling being rampant with cheats, while promoting boxing in the same sentence. jeez, boxing has to be one of the most corrupt sports of a time……Bennett got robbed this year and yes Sean Kelly is easily Ireland’s greatest sportsperson.
@The Sports Derd: all them bike jinits were on drugs. But KT has won it all in amateur, gold Olympics and pro. If you Google her achievements I bet theres a good few you didn’t know about. All that while being the soundest most grounded individual on the planet.. She has inspired more people world wide than any of the people you’ve mentioned. And sorry man but you know little about women’s boxing to say they dont have a comparable depth of talent to them drug using fogies. They might not get the coverage but the talent is there. PS: KT wud box the head off Stephen Roche. Good night
@Sean O Dowd: Sonia for me but I do like Katie
@Togs: Listen, this is a fun argument comparing different sports and different eras. For me, I can’t see past drugs with both Kelly and Roche. Unbelievable careers and, yes, every single cyclist was on them in the 80s but they’re no different to Michelle Smith in my book. Katie Taylor is a phenomenon, she has done wonders for women’s boxing but it’s a minority sport on the female side. There is no depth whatsoever. It wasn’t an Olympic sport until 10 years ago. And women’s pro boxing was a really niche event until Katie came along. So yes, she’s groundbreaking but she picked the wrong sport if she wants to be considered Ireland’s greatest ever sportsperson. Same as a hurler couldn’t claim the honour. That’s not her fault but it matters in this conversation. Sonia is our greatest.
@Jamie Bent: your wrong and you could of compared a better sport than to prove it. A sport that has a ‘handicap’ . Which osbplayinf at you level and still competing . Katie even breaks that. Her and the likes o eamon Coughlin. Sonya o Sullivan and even Robbie Keane have broke that barrier (of Irish people pitting each other down) hold your head up high katey your a hero to me
@The Sports Derd: I liked your poiny for a bit. But I don’t think you understand what s sports person means.
@Sean O Dowd: OK OK, they all have lovely bottoms, are we happy now?
@David O’Donaghue: will u go away. Firstly I said Katie is the best at the min. Secondly where have u seen complaints that there’s a problem wit drugs I’m women’s boxing. And no winner of the tour for the last 40 years was clean. Grow up if u think everyone was on drugs except the irish lad.
@Togs: I’m interested in debating relevant points, you’re much too emotional in your engagement. I’m well aware of all of KT’s exceptional achievements. You couldn’t possibly know she’s inspired more people worldwide than Kelly or Roche. I also have no doubt she’d “box the head off” Roche should they lace up the gloves for a bout but it’s irrelevant to the debate. For the record, I think KT is a fantastic athlete and does the country proud.
@Martin Glynn: Hi Martin. i never said there was a problem with drugs in womens boxing. i said boxing is one of the most corrupt sports there ever was. i also never said there was no doping in cycling, but for you to criticise cycling while promoting a boxer is what amused me.
@Jamie Bent: you are joking i hope ?
@Jamie Bent: well said, it’s very much a minority sport in it’s infancy at the moment so you can’t compare her to the greats in other sports.
@Jamie Bent: jasus lad really Harrington
@David O’Donaghue: I didn’t promote boxing. I said Katie is the worthy winner of the award. She def ireland top sports star at the min.
@David O’Donaghue: also u admit there’s a drugs problem in cycling while in the same breath saying a cyclist is Ireland’s greatest sports star. How could anyone claim that. Has there been a clean tour winner in the last 40 years. Is Armstrong a cycling legend r a disgrace? He’s only judged cos he was caught.
@Martin Glynn: I agree with you that Bennett should have won this year’s award. There are no accusations out there about him and drugs. The same cannot be said about Roche and Kelly. The evidence is irrefutable. So your argument that everyone was on them in those days is irrelevant. I personally don’t care if Janet Evans, Allison Wagner, Krisztina Egerszegi, Susie O’Neill or any of the top swimmers were also on drugs in 96. Doesn’t matter. Michelle Smith is completely tarnished regardless. The same standard should be applied to Kelly and Roche.
Well done Katie but for me Sam Bennett was Ireland sports person of the year. He won the green Jersey taking it from a man who has not been beaten on the road in 8 years. Cycling may be a minority sport in Ireland but the tour DE France is one of the biggest sporting events every year. Its a strange decision.
@Adrian Boland: nail on the head.
@Adrian Boland: totally agree that Bennett deserved this recognition but is cycling a minority sport in Ireland ? Lots of cyclists on the roads all year round , and it’s great to see.
@Peter Dickson: electric bikes don’t count
Crazy decision to overlook Sam Bennett
@Pat Andrews: she’s a fabulous ambassador for women and a fantastic Boxer, but she’s wine it before and her last fight was a rematch. Nah Sam should have won!
@Pat Andrews: Absolutely.
@Pat Andrews: I agree and to add insult to injury the picture they put up of all the nominated stars did not include Sam, RTE put a picture of a teammate of Sam’s called Remi Cavanga. How amateurish.
@Pat Andrews: absolutely. Katie is great but I haven’t seen her box competitively every day for 3 weeks solid. Sam’s name should have been all over that award
@Pat Andrews: who
@Siobhan D.: If you don’t know who Sam Bennett is Siobhan then you’re clearly not a general sports fan.
Well done Katie… my money was on Sam Bennett!
@Alan Kelly: Me too I think the award needed a new winner with due respects to Katie Taylor.
Bloody well right. Probably the greatest living Irish woman. Dedicated humble hard working and a genius at her sport. If I had a daughter I would be humbled if she turned out anything like Katie Taylor.
@Peter O’Donovan: absolutely
@Peter O’Donovan: Mary Robinson??
@Peter O’Donovan: the award is supposed to be based on achievements in one year…2020. Katie won a rematch ( did anyone think she would lose that fight?) Sam Bennett beat Peter Sagan..to win the green Jersey AND two stages in the tour.
@Peter O’Donovan: agree Peter let’s not forget about sonia O’Sullivan all the same.
@Peter O’Donovan: sonia’s achievments are more competitive and way better than Katie’s.
@Alan Kelly: we get it you cycle
@Peter O’Donovan: you would want your daughter to get and give blunt force trauma to the head. No thank you.
And rightly so
What an incredible achievement she deserves it
Pity Rte didn’t use a picture of Sam Bennett !!! Couldn’t even get that right.
Do the Dublin Senior footballers have to win 7 in a row in order to win the Team of the Year???
@John McCabe: they won it last year for the 5 in a row, I mean by your logic they should win it every year because its their 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 in a row!!
@Tadhg Keating: could it be because they deserved it?
@John McCabe: or maybe this Limerick team actually deserved it more? Ever cross your mind?
@Now or Never: Or that the mainstream press refuse to give these players the due credit they deserve instead they focus on other so called issues? Ever cross your mind?
@Now or Never: Alot of things cross my mind to be honest, just think the Dubs don’t get the recognition they deserve but it is what it is.
Happy Retirement to Tom Condon, mighty player, as they say owes Limerick nothing.
In fairness she would knock McGregor out halfway through rd 2 .well deserved.
@Paul Gorry: no she wouldn’t anyway its barbaric and at the very bottom of the boxing pay scales 4th div at best.
Well done Katie.
But I would have thought Sam Bennett
What panel overlooked Sam Bennett? He was robbed.
Well earned…congratulations
Why note a public vote who was on this special committee?
@Kevin Byrne: Not sure who was on the voting panel, possibly some collection of sports reporters and the like. But at least it was not a public vote, those things are really only for commercial competitions and have nothing really got to do with the actual quality of the candidates. Any vote the public are allowed to express an opinion on generally has no bearing on the reality, oh! jaysus am I maybe talking about something else…?
@Kevin Byrne: I’d imagine a large cohort of people from Bray/Wicklow
Well deserved
Go on katie
I’d be far more of a boxing fan than a cycling fan, but Sam Bennett should have won there. Katie has missed out years she definitely deserved it, but she didn’t deserve it this year, she had just two fights all year, the tour de France is a gruelling endeavour, not to mention the Vuelta and other lesser tours and races too. Sam had a brilliant year and is extremely hard done by.
Nothing against Katie Taylor, top class athlete and well recognised for same over the years. Absolute disgrace that Sam Bennett wasn’t the winner for 2020, shameful really. No possible explanation for KT coming out over SB for sportsperson of the year for 2020, clowns in rte
Why not! Is there an issue! Best of the best!!
Well I think both Dublin teams were hard done by with neither of the them winning team of the year or sports person of the year what do the girls and boy’s have to do to get the recognition they deserve winning 4 in a row and 6 in a row ovobliouly means nothing to those who decide on the awards
@Moya Power-kelly: team of the year last year due to the 5 in a row, you can’t deny this Limerick team didn’t deserve the award this time round. Can’t have it all yer own way.
No skill required to cycle a bike.
@Finbarr Dowling: You’re correct, it requires little to no skill to ride a bike, however to race a bike with other riders mere inches from you at 30/40mph, a washing machine effect of constant movement, negotiate road furniture and other obstacles, ride from the rear of the bunch through 150 odd riders to the front, descend mountain passes at speeds of over 60mph and a whole host of other scenarios requires skill, a lot of it.
@The Sports Derd: This
@The Sports Derd: I second that, Finbarr is clearly trolling here. Also had Sam Bennett not been on a team with an all time great puncheur like Sagan throughout the last few years at Bora he would have even more high profile victories..
Should have been Sam Bennett – I’m certainly not a fan of female fighters – besides she’d won it before not so long ago
100% Sam Bennett
What’s Michelle Smith up to nowadays?
Well deserved .
Positive discrimination at its finest