‘Every girl now wants to be a boxer’: excitement in Katie Taylor’s home town for her valedictory bout

Irish boxer lauded for her tenacity and inspiration before her last fight in front of 80,000 people at Croke Park

When Katie Taylor steps into the ring on Saturday night to defend her titles and once again enthral Ireland, there will be a bittersweet tinge. After a singular career that pioneered women’s boxing, the super-lightweight champion and Olympic gold medallist is bowing out. She is 40 and it is to be her final bout.

“The end of an era, isn’t it?” said Trevor McMahon, her brother-in-law and founder of a gym where she trains. “It’ll be an amazing night but it’ll also be a little bit sad. Everything she did, it might not ever be achieved again.”

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Clippers docked five first-round draft picks and fined $30m over Kawhi Leonard scandal

  • Team circumvented salary cap rules to sign star

  • Owner Steve Ballmer lands one-year ban

The NBA has handed down one of the biggest punishments in the history of the league to the Los Angeles Clippers after finding that the franchise circumvented salary cap rules when it courted Kawhi Leonard as a free agent.

The league has stripped the team of five first-round draft picks, giving the team no natural pick in the draft from 2029 through 2033.

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