Katie Taylor says her dramatic Madison Square Garden victory over Amanda Serrano topped her 2012 Olympic gold medal win.
The Bray boxer had to dig deep in a fight of the year contender at the iconic venue in New York in the early hours of Sunday morning.
She looked to be in control during the opening few rounds and was avoiding most of the shots that the Puerto Rican threw at her.
But the fight took a drastic turn during the fifth round when Serrano got the undisputed lightweight champion into the corner and began to really hurt her with a barrage of punches.
Taylor looked hurt and didn't really get back into the fight until the last 30 seconds of the sixth round, but she rallied well and began to get back on top in the later rounds.
On the victory, the 35-year-old said: "I think the most important thing is to come out as the winner regardless of whether I performed well or not.
"Today was just fantastic. I had to dig deep in there tonight. I had to produce a career defining performance to actually win tonight."
Taylor also praised her opponent and said the fight was better than anyone could ever have imagined.
She added: "What an amazing champion Amanda is as well. A phenomenal fighter and we definitely got the best out of each other for sure.
"Everybody was talking coming into this fight that it was the biggest women’s fight in boxing history but I think it succeeded everything that people were talking about this week."
"Just walking out to the ring today just looking at a packed stadium, It was unbelievable."
And having said in the build-up to the bout that it was hard to compare it to her Olympic victory in London, she revealed the Serrano win was "absolutely" bigger.
She confirmed: "It was an absolutely special, special moment. The best night in my career for sure. I wasn’t sure if anything could reach my Olympic gold medal moment today was absolutely the best moment in my career."
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