The was no mistaking the importance this World Championship win made to Ireland’s Katie Taylor. For the European, Olympic and now a World Champion for a fifth successive time, tears replaced the stony game face she had all week after the judges awarded her the world final 40-36, 39-37, 39-37 after four rounds of, once again, cagey circling of the ring.

The win puts Taylor into the history books as the only fighter along with India’s Mary Kom, who has won five world titles, in Taylor’s case all of them at lightweight.

It was a predictable fight if not a predictable outcome against the tricky Azerbaijani Yana Allekseevna, a southpaw counter puncher. If anything this past week we have come to know there is nothing other than a tricky southpaw.

“Thank God again for a great victory. I’m absolutely delighted,” said the World Champion. “It was such a tough fight. I didn’t know what was going to happen at the end there. It’s an absolute privilege to equal Mary Kom’s record.

“She’s a hero in the sport. Thanks again to my dad and Gerry (Storey) and Zaur (Antia) in the corner. The tactics again were spot on. It was very, very tricky. You can’t rush in in these sorts of fights, you have to be very, very patient.”

It was that patience that again stood to Taylor. She didn’t panic as Allekseevna stuck out her right arm and wound up her left ready to strike whenever Taylor moved in to score points.

Injury

Taylor, who went into the bout with a swollen wrist for which she will have an X-ray when she returns to Ireland, moved her around the ring and was largely the more aggressive fighter. But not all the judges saw it her way in the first, one of the three awarding the Azerbaijani the round.

But Taylor continued to be controlled and pushed forward cautously, firing in body shots to catch the eye of the judges. Allekseevna was scoring too, nothing heavy but it was a better round with all the judges giving Taylor the two minutes.

For the final two rounds, it was more chess, Taylor pushing her around into the corners and unloading her combinations, her back hand landing more than her opponent's counter. Taylor, who was unable to use her jab as she normally does because of the wrist, led going into the final round after one of the judges again awarded Allekseevna the round.

She’s a legend now

Such was the stand-off nature and the single point scoring that the referee had to intervene in the fourth round and tell them both to box, Taylor again landing body shots and fighting more aggressively.

It was finally with a mix of relief and joy that her father Pete heard ‘winner red corner’, his daughter again the best female lightweight boxer in the world.

“My heart's in bits,” said Pete. “We knew it would be a tough fight. We studied this girl and knew Katie was going to have to feint and feint. It would only be a single punch that was going to score and Katie executed brilliantly.

“We knew she had to get out quick and she executed brilliantly. Five world titles what can you say.

“It’s unbelievable... she’s a legend now.”

A legend with more to come.

President

President Michael D Higgins offered his congratulations today. “All of us are so proud of her,” he said in a statement.

“She again showed such remarkable skill, determination and courage at the very highest level.

“Katie Taylor is without doubt the outstanding Irish sportswoman of her generation and has set a standard for all Irish sportspeople to follow in decades ahead,” he said.