Before retiring in front of more than 80,000 fans, Taylor (26-1, 6 KOs) added the vacant WBC title to her WBA, IBF, WBO, and Ring championships. Pili (12-1, 2 KOs) suffered her first professional defeat after struggling to match Taylor’s speed, timing, and work rate.
There were no knockdowns, and Taylor was rarely in serious danger. It was a controlled farewell rather than another punishing war, with the 40-year-old boxing intelligently and refusing to give Pili the exchanges she needed.
From the opening bell, Taylor took the center of the ring and began setting the distance with her jab. She pressed behind the lead hand, landed the right hook, and put together quick combinations before Pili could answer.
During the opening two rounds, Pili looked tentative. She waited too long for Taylor to finish punching and then found the target had already disappeared. Taylor moved her head, changed position, and made the French challenger reset before beginning another attack.
Four-punch combinations allowed Taylor to score without remaining in front of Pili. Whenever the challenger attempted to close the distance, Taylor either countered her coming forward or tied her up before she could build any offense.
The difference in hand speed was clear. Pili had difficulty timing Taylor’s entries, while Taylor repeatedly beat her to the punch and moved away before the return fire arrived.
That pattern continued through the third round. Taylor stabbed with the jab, stepped into range with combinations, and smothered Pili’s attempts to respond. She did not need to take unnecessary chances because Pili was giving away rounds with her low output.
More urgency came from Pili in the fourth as she tried to push Taylor backward. Her pressure briefly made the fight more physical, but she still struggled to land cleanly. Taylor met her with counters and refused to remain trapped along the ropes.
The challenger continued advancing in the fifth, only to run into Taylor’s sharper punches. A clean left hook from Taylor closed the round and reinforced her control of the fight.
One of Pili’s better jabs snapped Taylor’s head back early in the sixth. Taylor responded quickly with punches through the middle and a counter right hand, preventing Pili from building on the moment.
The Frenchwoman’s punches looked slower, and her attacks usually came one shot at a time. That made it easier for Taylor to read what was coming and answer with combinations. Pili remained durable and willing, but she could not produce enough offense to change the direction of the contest.
Her best work came in the seventh and eighth rounds. Pili connected during a flurry in the seventh after Taylor had attacked the body, while the referee warned Taylor for using her head.
In the eighth, Pili crowded Taylor more effectively and landed a short right hand inside. The closer distance made the action rougher and took away some of Taylor’s room to operate. Those were the only rounds that offered Pili a reasonable argument on the scorecards.
Even during that stretch, Taylor continued finding openings with the jab and combinations. When Pili forced her toward a corner, Taylor punched her way out or held before the challenger could extend the exchange.
A more disciplined approach returned from Taylor in the ninth. She stayed near the edge of Pili’s range, slipped in a right hand, and changed levels with attacks to the body and head.
Despite continuing to come forward, Pili was following rather than cutting off the ring. Taylor controlled where the exchanges took place and rarely allowed her challenger to plant her feet long enough to throw sustained combinations.
The crowd rose as Taylor opened up in the 10th. She increased her output, fired fast combinations, and exchanged with Pili through the closing seconds. Taylor finished as the stronger and busier fighter before receiving a standing ovation at the final bell.
The wide scores accurately reflected the action. Pili had brief moments when her pressure made Taylor uncomfortable, but she never consistently solved the champion’s jab or timing.
It was a smart way for Katie to end a career filled with demanding fights. She did not chase a dramatic knockout or allow the emotion of the night to pull her into a reckless exchange. Instead, she relied on the speed, movement, combination punching, and experience that carried her to championships in two divisions.
The victory gave Taylor every major title at 140 pounds and a third reign as an undisputed champion. More importantly, it allowed her to leave boxing with her belts, her record intact apart from one defeat, and the final image of a packed Croke Park standing in appreciation.
Read the full article here
