Katie Taylor announces break from boxing to deal with ‘personal matters’

She's been named 'Champion in Recess'

The light-welterweight champion won her trilogy fight with Amanda Serrano in New York on 11 July.

The WBC then announced Katie would have to face mandatory challenger Chantelle Cameron to defend her title, in what would be the third leg of another trilogy.

However, the professional boxer (39) has decided to take a break from the sport "to attend to personal matters".

The WBC has now recognised the Wicklow native as a 'Champion in Recess' and named her the WBC Emeritus Champion, with Cameron now set to face Sandy Ryan in a fight for the vacant belt, per BBC.

The recognition of Emeritus Champion is regarded as a lifetime honour given only in specific circumstances, such as when sports stars are injured or deal with personal issues leading them to need some time away from their sport for a period of time.

Should Taylor decide to fight again, she will be first in line to challenge the holder due to the status conferred on her.

It comes just days after the boxing world champion revealed that she married Sean McCavanagh, who is a real estate broker from Connecticut.

Mauricio Sulaiman, the WBC president, explained in a statement:

"(Katie) let us know that she plans to take some time away from the ring to attend to personal matters.

"The fight she was obligated to take was against Chantelle Cameron; by naming her Champion in Recess, we will order Sandy Ryan to fight Cameron to ratify the WBC super lightweight world title."

Eddie Hearn, Katie's manager, recently admitted that he did not know if Katie would decide on her boxing future until the new year.

He said: "She's definitely not going to fight again this year or early next year, so in her head right now, she's going to have Christmas, and I don't think she'll make an actual decision this year because time will enable you to make a decision, so give yourself time.

"How you feel today will probably be very different to how she feels in January or February. The worst thing to do is to retire and then, in January, go 'I think I'll have another fight'," per the BBC.