Katie Taylor will finally get her Croke Park night, with confirmation today that the Bray boxer’s farewell fight will take place at GAA HQ on Saturday, September 5th.
Taylor will face unbeaten French fighter Flora Pili in what is being billed as the final bout of one of the most important careers in Irish and global sport. The fight will see Taylor defend her WBA, IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine super-lightweight titles, with the vacant WBC belt also on the line, offering her the chance to close her career once again as undisputed champion.
The announcement brings to an end a long campaign to bring Taylor to Croke Park, a venue she has consistently identified as the dream setting for her final fight. Previous attempts to stage a bout there had stalled over cost, security and logistics, but Matchroom Boxing and Croke Park have now reached agreement on a date and associated costs.
The event will mark the first professional boxing occasion at Croke Park since Muhammad Ali fought there in 1972, and is expected to draw a crowd in excess of 80,000. It will also be broadcast globally on DAZN, giving the night a reach well beyond Ireland.
Taylor, now 39, has already confirmed that this will be the last fight of her professional career. Since winning Olympic gold in London in 2012, she has helped to transform the status of women’s boxing, becoming a world champion at lightweight and super-lightweight and headlining major nights in New York, London and Dublin.
Her first professional fight in Ireland, against Chantelle Cameron at the 3Arena in 2023, ended in defeat, but she avenged that loss later the same year. She has since completed a trilogy of victories over Amanda Serrano, the most recent coming at Madison Square Garden last July.
Pili brings an unbeaten professional record of 12 wins from 12 fights and enters the contest with the opportunity to deny Taylor the perfect ending. For Taylor, though, the night will be framed as more than another title defence. It will be a national sporting occasion, the long-awaited homecoming for an athlete whose influence has stretched from the high-performance system into participation, visibility and commercial growth for women’s sport.
Ticket prices will range from €38.70, with family ticket packages priced at €125.50. They will go on sale on Wednesday, June 10th. Pitch ticket prices will start at €106.25 with ringside exceeding €1,000. All in all a price range that should sell out quickly.
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Image Credit: Lidl ireland and Sportsfile
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