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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Robert Hynes

Katie Taylor's heartwarming phone call to Lisa O'Rourke and Amy Broadhurst following their World Championship wins

Katie Taylor congratulated Ireland's two newest world champions after Lisa O'Rourke and Amy Broadhurst both won gold on Thursday.

O'Rourke claimed gold in the light-middleweight class, while Broadhurst triumphed at light-welterweight.

Taylor, who won five successive World titles as an amateur, spoke to both fighters on the phone after ringing them from her Connecticut base.

It is understood that Irish Head coach Zaur Antia arranged the call.

Broadhurst revealed how sparring Taylor and Kellie Harrington helped her win gold.

She told Morning Ireland on RTE Radio 1: "I’ve put my name up there. I’ve always had people telling me 'you’re one of the best in the world' and I have people around me see just how good I am, but I didn’t believe it myself.

"Over the last three months with sparring with Katie and getting the confidence from her and sparring with Kellie as well has lifted my confidence a lot.

"This is the first competition I’ve come into fully believing in myself that I could win a gold medal. It’s amazing what believing in yourself can do."

Broadhurst spoke of her long journey to becoming a world champion, adding that the win still hasn't really sunk in.

She said: "It’s taken a long road to get here, it’s been 20 years of my life that’s actually got me here.

"I’ve had European medals and that before but all I’ve wanted was a world medal and to get a world gold is unbelievable.

"I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, I don’t think it will sink in until I’m at home on my own and I’m actually just thinking of what I’ve achieved.

"I just knew from when I was a little girl this is what I wanted to do and even yesterday before I came out for my fight, I thought to myself 20 years ago I started boxing and this is what I’ve been dreaming of since I was that age. So it was a case of 'go and grab it’."

The 25-year-old also expressed her gratitude to the people of her hometown of Dundalk, saying: "It’s amazing, my phone has been hopping and I’ve seen the support been getting, especially from Dundalk.

"The whole town has seen me over the years, just push and push for these sort of results and the fact that I’m returning to Dundalk as a world champions, it doesn’t feel real, it’s madness."

Looking back on the final, Broadhurst added: "The first round was very, very close I thought, I couldn't have called it and the scoring was right I thought, it was 3-2.

"But even though it was so close in the first round I enjoyed every second of it and as the fight went on, I just grew into the fight and became more comfortable. The tactics that the coaches had for me were spot-on, they worked perfectly.

"I think the day before against Parveen Hooda I wasn’t really switched on and, to be honest, I probably didn’t listen too much.

"Yesterday I was fully switched on and I listened to everything that was said to me."

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