Rock on famous father's influence and emulating Taylor
· Yahoo Sports
She may be the daughter of a famous boxer, but Kaci Rock has always wanted to forge her own path in the sport and eventually have her first name recognised more than her last.
Interest in her career has no doubt been piqued by virtue of her father's success as Jim Rock is the only boxer to have held the Irish title at four different weight divisions: light-middleweight, middleweight, super-middleweight and light-heavyweight.
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While acknowledging that her father, who earned the nickname 'Pink Panther' for his eye-catching pink shorts in the ring, has been an "inspiration", Kaci also highlighted how she had to work hard to earn her place at a first Commonwealth Games for Team Northern Ireland this summer off her own accord.
"I always get it a lot, 'that's Jim Rock's daughter' and I'm like no, my name is Kaci, I feel like anything I have achieved is from what I've put in," she told BBC Sport NI.
"People sometimes degrade that because 'she's his daughter' and I'm like 'no, you don't get picked for anything because of that, you have to win your fights to get on the team'.
"We don't talk boxing at all. If I need help he's always there, but we don't sit at home and talk about boxing, we don't watch boxing, we talk about everything else and at the end of the day, he's just my dad."
'Seeing Katie Taylor spurred me on'
Rock was in the crowd for Katie Taylor's semi-final victory in the 2012 Olympic Games in London as the Bray woman went on to win gold [Getty Images]Despite his success in the sport, her father originally tried to dissuade Kaci, from taking up boxing, but it had the opposite effect.
"Sometimes when your mum and dad tell you you can't do something, you want to do it more and I think that's what happened," she joked.
"He always said girls don't box and at that time they didn't, there were no opportunities for girls to go to the Olympics for example, but Katie Taylor was paving the way and she was in our club and it was great for me to look up to another female and I thought it was possible because she was doing it."
For Rock, who was born in Belfast but raised in Wicklow, Taylor is viewed as the ultimate role model.
While the saying goes that you shouldn't meet your heroes, the 23-year-old has had plenty of encounters with the decorated 39-year-old, having started out boxing as a six-year-old under the tutelage of Katie's father Pete in Wicklow and ultimately staying in the sport due to the Bray woman's success.
"Going in and out of the gym every day and seeing Katie, it spurred me on. If I had have been the only girl in the gym, even though I loved the sport, it probably would have turned me against it," she explained.
"What you see of Katie is so true. She is the most humble person ever, she is so nice, you wouldn't think she's a boxer, she's so gentle and kind. She's a perfect role model as she has achieved everything and is still so humble."
'When you say 'I'm a boxer' they automatically give you a stereotype'
Rock is a member of the Holy Trinity Boxing club in west Belfast [Getty Images]Rock has had a bright start to her fledgling career. She an eight-time Irish national champion and victory in the Ulster Elite Championships last year paved the way to her selection for the Commonwealth Games.
She will compete in the welterweight division and is keen to savour the occasion and try bring back a medal.
"You aim high and want to go to the top, but I'm going to take it fight by fight and all you can hope for is a good draw. Gold would be the main goal but performance over anything and we'll see where we go."
Outside of the ring, Rock likes to show her personality through her social media, where she gives followers a glimpse into her fashion sense and challenges preconceived notions of how a female boxer should look or what they should wear.
"When I go home at the weekend I like getting dressed up and I think in women's boxing there is such a stigma around it," Rock said.
"When you say 'I'm a boxer' they automatically give you a stereotype of what you might look like or might wear and it's not like that at all.
"I love my make-up and hair and getting dressed and I'm not going to change that because of sport. Female boxing is such a big thing and I think you can have both sides in life."