Katie Taylor reveals that she wants to fight into her FORTIES

Katie Taylor believes she can emulate the kind of longevity that earned Bernard Hopkins his ‘Alien’ ring moniker and feels she can to fight into her 40s.

The 32-year-old Bray fighter enters just her second full calendar year as a pro and has seemed in a hurry thus far, claiming world honours in just her seventh pro fight and unifying by nine.

Indeed, she wants to become undisputed by the time 2019 is done and has been given the chance to win a third world title after WBO world champion Rose Volante agreed to do battle in Philadelphia, hometown of Hopkins, on St Patrick’s Weekend.

However, while Taylor is in a rush to collect silverware and cement a legacy, she is in no rush to get out of boxing.

The former amateur legend, who was winning major medals in her teens, wants and plans to fight into her forties meaning, hopefully, at least another eight or so years of Taylor.

Of course, female fighters continuing their careers into their late 30s and early 40s is not all that unusual in the women’s game, with countless instances on the current scene.

Taylor plans to be another such example and the clean-living Wicklow wonder explained to the Irish Independent how “they often say boxing is a short career, but I feel I have plenty of years left in me.”

“I look after my body, I have great drive to achieve more in the sport and who knows, I could be the female version of Bernard Hopkins fighting well into my 40s.”

“I feel fresh, I feel good, I train smart and the people around me look after me to ensure I can have the best career possible.”

With the possibility of more than a decade of boxing ahead the Brian Peters-managed fighter will certainly have time to break all manner of records.

Talent and time allowed Hopkins to cement his legacy as an all time great even if he wasn’t the most entertaining of fighters to watch late on.

Hopkins first became world champion back in 1995 and went on to record a record number of middleweight defences 20.

A victory over Oscar De La Hoya for the WBO title in 2004 made the now Golden Boy stake holder the first male boxer to simultaneously hold world titles by all four major boxing sanctioning bodies.

In 2011 Hopkins was back making history when he defeated Jean Pascal for the WBC light heavyweight title, making him the oldest boxer in history to win a world championship, at the age of 46, breaking George Foreman’s record set in 1994.

Hopkins later broke his own record by winning the IBF light heavyweight title from Tavoris Cloud in 2013, and again in 2014 when he won the WBA title from Beibut Shumenov, at ages 48 and 49, respectively.

If you considering Taylor could be undisputed champion by year three of what she predicts will be a long career, it’s quite possible the fighter who changed the amateur side of female boxing may break all manner of records en route to Hall of Fame status.

Indeed, a prolonged stay in the pros opens the door to more and more huge fights.

Kelly Harrington is keen to face Taylor following the Tokyo Olympics while even young guns like Caroline Dubois and Amy Broadhurst may now have the Irishwoman on their radar should she remain in boxing until the mid 2020s.