The Katie Taylor documentary is out now and it’s well worth a watch

Katie highlights the determination, perseverance and strength of character it took for the athlete to succeed.

Women's sporting icon, Katie Taylor has enjoyed many career highlights since her debut title fight in 2005. The thirty-two-year-old began boxing when she was just eleven, where she was coached by her father alongside her two older brothers. Her humble beginnings training with St Fergal's Boxing Club, which operated out of a former boathouse in Bray quickly began to evolve into something bigger when Katie fought her first officially sanctioned female boxing match in Ireland at the National Stadium and defeated Alanna Audley. After the devasting blow of the Rio Olympics, many people questioned if her boxing career was over and the famously private champion agreed to let a small crew document her rebuild her career. Katie is directed by Ross Whitaker, who has previously worked on Unbreakable: The Mark Pollock Story, and the new documentary intimately follows Taylor through some very testing moments. The phenomenal trailer gives us a glimpse into the fractious relationship Katie had with her father and former trainer, Peter Taylor. And the film reveals even more shocking truths, such as the fact that Katie had to pretend to be a boy to pursue her sport. A press release for the film states:

"Few people know that Taylor had to pretend to be a boy as a young boxer because girls weren't allowed to box in Ireland at the time. Taylor also had to bang down the door of the Olympics to get female boxing into London 2012, where she famously won the gold medal."

The film has received high praise since its release and has been lauded by the likes of Sonia O'Sullivan and Derval O'Rourke.

The @KatieTaylor documentary is incredible viewing. Such a raw & honest insight. Find where it’s on & watch it. Bonus that @rosswhitakertv was doing a Q&A after it was shown in Cork ? Well done, superb doc. pic.twitter.com/IsZz5oDuRJ

— Derval O'Rourke (@DervalORourke) October 30, 2018

The film has even been praised for carrying a feminist banner, as many people see Katie as a great role model for girls.

Just brought our 9 year old to see @KatieTaylor film. Go! Bring your daughters and see this incredible sporting hero in action. A beautiful and inspiring documentary. #boxing #dedication #sportinghero

— Domini Kemp (@DominiKemp) October 29, 2018

Katie is in cinemas now and we certainly know what we'll be doing for the weekend. 20x20 is an ambitious two-year long initiative to better promote and champion women in sport. With the tagline of "if she can't see it, she can't be it," the 20x20 movement has three targets to reach by 2020:

• 20 percent more media coverage of women in sport
• 20 percent more female participation
• 20 percent more attendance at women’s competitions and events

And at Maximum Media, we're proud that Her and SportsJOE is backing the 20X20 movement as official digital media partners.