Hi °C | Lo °C 
Katie Taylor guaranteed herself an Olympic bronze at least in a throbbing ExCel Arena today a 26-15 defeat of British lightweight hope, Natasha Jonas.
With a huge Irish contingent in the hall, Taylor had far too much power for the Liverpudlian and was deemed to have won three of the four rounds. The exception was the second, in which Jonas launched a mini comeback, managing to hold Taylor to 5-5. But, with the score now 10-7 in Taylor's favour, the Bray girl launched a furious third round attack that forced the Liverpudlian into taking a count.
Taylor won that round 9-4 and thereafter slipped into exhibition mode, thrilling the huge Irish contingent with lightning combinations that had Jonas in all manner of trouble. Another count for the English girl confirmed that there was only going to be one winner and, to strains of 'Ole Ole Ole" Taylor easily eased home.
Taylor now meets Tajikistan's Mavzuna Chorieva, a surprise winner over China's dual world silver medalist, Cheng Dong in Wednesday's semi-final, with the fighters due in the ring at 2.30pm.
If Taylor wins, she will fight for Olympic gold on Thursday afternoon.
The defeated Jonas said she expects Taylor to go all the way to gold now. "I think she will and hope she does" said the Liverpudlian. "Katie's the best in the world and probably deserves it."
