Katie Taylor will fight in Dublin against Amanda Serrano subject to the Puerto Rican winning in New York this weekend but the fight will take place in the 3 Arena rather than at Croke Park.

Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed the news in an interview with a US-based media source last night as part of the build-up to that fight.

It had been hoped that a Croke Park date in May would be announced in the ring of the Madison Square Garden venue on Saturday night.

Hearn claims that the costs of renting Croke Park for this occasion would be almost three times that of hiring Wembley Stadium and that as a businessman with Katie Taylor’s financial interests in mind, this could not be justified.

There was no breakdown of where those additional costs might have arisen but Croke Park is a 40 percent bigger playing area with less of an angle to the stands so the requirement for additional seating would be part of this, as well as the need to bring in high resolution screens for a one-off event ata time of year when there is high demand at Festivals across Europe.

Brexit will doubtless be an issue as well with the higher costs and hassle associated with bringing in equipment from the much larger British market.

Hearn’s operation is a slick business that does not leave things to chance outside the ring and it may be that despite all the welcome and the reported excitement about the bout, that selling out 80,000 tickets for what would be 20 minutes of fight action at most was also not looking as straightforward as might have been expected.

Professional boxing in Ireland is incredibly well supported from the comfort and security of a couch in front of a TV but there remain issues around its edges that mean it may not have been a fully straightforward ask of Government to support the fight in some way, and for an event that would be home-based and with little residual value in terms of tourism.

This is a dry way of reporting that it was always likely to be tougher than the popular narrative would have us believe.

In the end, at least for now, and subject to Saturday’s result, we will get to see Katie Taylor fight for the first time as a professional in Dublin.

The 3 Arena will only take half the audience that packed Madison Square Garden and one eighth of what might have been the case at Croke Park. As a result, the ticket prices will start well north of €100, and escalate quickly.

There will be opportunities to see Taylor in a promotional setting around the City and perhaps there will be a chance to set up watch parties at a much more democratic price point at locations around the city.

We have to draw breath, be happy for the chance to see her in any setting on Irish soil and recognise that Croke Park may have always been more of a dream than a reality. At least for now.