The best punch trackers on the market
20th January 2021
By: Niamh Campbell
Ireland’s youngest pro female boxer, Katelynn Phelan, is now number two in the IBO’s latest welterweight rankings.
Phelan won three world title belts after securing an emphatic win over German-Ukrainian Jessica Schadko in October.
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The 20-year-old secured the WBC Youth world title, WBF world title and WIBA world title by forcing Schadko to retire on her stool during the minute’s rest between the fifth and sixth round in the defending champ’s own boxing club, the CPI Gym in Munich.
The fight, which was originally meant to take place on 5 September was postponed until 17 October due to Covid-19 restrictions.
19-year-old Schadko, like Phelan, is a youth prodigy in her own country, having been previously undefeated with eight bouts, including two knockouts prior to her showdown with the Kildare town native.
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Phelan’s win is made even more impressive as not only did she have the disadvantage of fighting away from home, but she had to jump from her usual four-round fights, to ten rounds for the show – not that she needed any more than five.
The fight brought the Irish prospect’s boxing record to 4-0. Her latest bout was supposed to happen in Spain this month, but has since been cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Speaking about her clash with Schadko, Phelan told the His and Hers Boxing podcast, “The fifth round finished and we were on our stools getting ready to go into the sixth round. Apparently, her coaches wanted her to do one more round and she just said no, she couldn’t.
“My coach predicted when we got offered the fight the first time, that she would quit in the sixth round, and that’s exactly what happened. My coach, Niall (Barrett) was heading down the steps and I was going back into the centre of the ring again and the referee started waving his hands so I literally shouted ‘Niall get back up, quick! And that’s all I can remember, I literally started crying straight away. It literally felt so surreal.”
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Phelan’s father Paddy, who also helps train her, was in her corner as well, and the young pro said he didn’t stop crying for a few days after the fight, adding that most people messaging her had said the same.
“It’s actually so hard to get through all the messages. I went through five or six hundred new followers on Twitter within 24 hours, the same with Instagram and Facebook as well,” she said.
“I saw loads of blue tick verified people sending me messages and I was like, ‘oh my God this I actually real like, this actually happened’. I keep asking my coaches am I asleep, and they’re like ‘yes Katelynn now shut up!’”
Among the messages of support was Jono Carroll, the lightweight Dubliner who shot to fame after defeating Scott Quigg on a convincing points win in March 2020, despite being the underdog.
