The RTE Sportsperson of the Year for 2020 award felt like a two-horse race between Katie Taylor and Sam Bennett.
I don’t want to take away from the Irish cyclist’s considerable achievements but the Bray pugilist deserved it by a country mile.
The 34-year-old is ageing like a fine wine and remains an unstoppable force at an age when most boxers start going downhill.
She continues to show great heart inside the ring and has a heart of gold outside of it too.
There are no airs and graces about her – a rare quality in an ego-driven sport.
Sadly, you cannot say the same about Conor McGregor, 32, who had the stuffing knocked out of him by American UFC fighter Dustin Poirier.
It speaks volumes about the brawler’s growing unpopularity when many Irish were delighted to see one of their own lose.
We got a kick out of the hilarious memes of McGregor seeing stars.
It brought a whole new meaning to the phrase “when Irish eyes are smiling”.
It used to be unthinkable for us to make fun of an Irish sports star before McGregor started throwing shapes.
The Crumlin fighter is a shadow of his former self ever since he cashed in with the ridiculously one-sided fight with former world boxing champ Floyd Mayweather.
Floyd could’ve floored him at will in the showboating exhibition bout.
But he pulled his punches in an effort to give fans and sponsors value for money.
You could put Katie in the boxing ring with McGregor and she would outclass him – without breaking much of a sweat.
It’s hard to begrudge anybody such a massive money-spinner opportunity no matter how absurd.
But McGregor should’ve sailed off into the sunset after trousering such a crazy sum.
The Notorious clearly doesn’t fancy getting into the octagon when everything is now being handed to him on a silver platter.
The once-feared warrior should call time on his career because others will start fancying their chances of kicking lumps out of him now.
It’s understandable why he was always showboating in order to stand out from the crowd in a competitive market – I’m loathe to use “sport” for UFC.
It all went pear-shaped when he started to buy into his own hype.
He overstepped the mark with crude remarks and constant bragging about his obscene wealth.
It’s a crying shame McGregor’s brand turned toxic because his rags-to-riches story could’ve been the Irish Rocky.
The word “lout” spring to mind whenever he pops up in conversation. I got the message loud and clear once at LAX airport when the immigration officer joked about not stamping my passport because McGregor was Irish.
They might make a film about McGregor’s exploits but he won’t go down in the history books like Katie who was the first Irish boxer in a staggering 116 years to become an undisputed world champion.
It’s all the more commendable because Katie did it without shooting her mouth off.
She deserves much credit for carrying herself at all times with the type of grace and dignity that makes her a truly great role model.
There’s also a Hollywood movie to be made about how the Olympic Committee were only persuaded to finally allow women’s boxing after some of them were blown away by Katie’s skills in an exhibition match.
I honestly thought Katie’s career would come to a standstill after the Olympics.
I had written a book about her at the time and reckoned her remaining years inside the ring would be nothing more than a postscript.
I couldn’t have been more wrong – you could write a new doorstopper of a blockbuster about her exploits since turning pro.
We should never forget Katie is one of only a half-dozen Irish Olympic gold medal holders after her heroic performances at the 2012 London Games.
It’s a good enough reason to give her a statue as big as Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky in Philadelphia.
McGregor is only a footnote in comparison. He isn’t fit to lace her boots.
