Katie Taylor will do battle for gold at the European Games in Baku this weekend after securing a hard-earned victory over Azerbaijan’s Yana Alekseevna on Friday morning. The five-time world champion had a tough battle from the off and had to dig deep and use all her experience to drive through to victory. Neck-in-neck throughout the opening three rounds, and with the home crowd firmly behind her opponent, Katie secured the win on a split decision. She now heads into the final against France’s Estelle Mossely on Saturday. "It was a close fight," she said afterwards. "It was always going to be." "She's a top boxer. It was close, but I don't care, I'm through to the finals. "I know I was down after three rounds so I had to go out and put the pressure on and try to win the round clearly."

Great image of Team Ireland boxing coaches Zaur Antia and Pete Taylor when @KatieTaylor is named the winner! #Boxing pic.twitter.com/ywIAN9BmZY

— Sportsfile (@sportsfile) June 26, 2015

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