After days of speculation, Katie Taylor this morning announced her decision to join the professional boxing ranks and her signing with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing.
The move comes after a disappointing 2016 for the 30-year-old after she was denied a sixth consecutive World Title and was then beaten in the quarter-finals Olympics by Mira Potkonen.
Speaking to Off The Ball this evening, Adam Smith, head of boxing at Sky Sports, said that the move has come at the perfect time for Taylor and that joining the professional ranks is wonderful for women's boxing as a whole.
"She was so successful as an amateur winning world after world after world," he said. "Everyone thought she'd just turn up and win the sixth world and then turn up to win the Olympics.
"The pressure on her has always been huge and you just can't keep winning every single title. What she has done is phenomenal and I don't think will ever be repeated.
"She's excellent. She's a very, very good boxer with enormous talent and comes with lots of pedigree.
"The professional game is different but I think she goes into it at the right time. She's always been a consummate professional.
"She'll fit in very well. Yes, she will have to be accelerated very fast but it's all about the match making and the level of opposition. She could just be far better than any preliminary opponent. They've got to be careful of that but they can fast track her because she's got all the pedigree in the world."
He continued to say that the move is good for women's boxing, which with the emergence of other high profile boxers has grown in recent years.
"As far as women's boxing goes, I think Nicola Adams has done so well as well, being a double Olympian. Claressa Shields is about to turn pro.
"I think there's positive vibes about women's boxing. We've got to be careful with the matches, that's very important. Katie was so skilled in the amateurs, we want to see her matched well as a pro and that could be tricky.
"I think it's great though. We're seeing more women at boxing in general, more at the shows."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
