Director: Ross Whitaker
Starring: Katie Taylor
Distributor: Heritage Films
Runtime: 89 mins. Reviewed in Sep 2020

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Rating notes: Coarse language

Born to box. This is quite engaging documentary about Irish boxing champion, Katie Taylor. It is clearly a film for boxing fans. It is even more clearly a film for fans who are interested in women’s boxing.

Katie Taylor comes from Bray, Ireland, grew up there, a close-knit family. Mother, Bridget, father, Peter, and siblings Lee, Sarah and Peter Peter, this is a portrait of her and her boxing career and success.

As shown in this film, the filmmakers following her not intruding on her, she has an agreeable personality, sometimes an Irish twinkle. She excelled at sport while growing up, football, and a talent for boxing, taking after her father. He was her coach, guiding her to many bouts, victories, an excellent reputation.

For those interested in the details of her boxing career, the entry on her in Wikipedia has an extensive (to say the least) listing of all her major bouts and their results.

Katie Taylor is completely dedicated to sport remarking, as late as 2020, when asked about relationships, that she was too busy to have relationships. There are quite a number of interviews with her family throughout the film, great support from her mother, generous comments from her sister and her brothers. But, for those who do not know her story, there is a great shock when, in the year before the Rio Olympics, her father (who has made a very agreeable impression, so supportive of his daughter) walks out on the family, something of a devastating effect on them all but, especially, Katie as she was training for Rio.

And the thing that emerges from this documentary is how popular she is with the Irish people. As an amateur, she won numerous medals in Irish and European competitions. There is also her training for the London Olympics, her bouts and her eventually winning the gold medal – and many glimpses of an adoring Irish public.

In 2016 she moved to the world of professional boxing, giving interviews about this, interviews with her new manager, with her genial American coach, and a stream of successful fights which has continued even after the making and release of this film.

Peter Malone MSC is an Associate of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting.