Matchroom promoter, Eddie Hearn, has announced that the much-anticipated rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will not be staged at Croke Park.
Taylor and Serrano battled to a split decision in a Fight of the Year contender last April and, ever since, Irish fans and fighters have been looking forward to a rematch at the 82,500-capacity stadium.
However, in an interview with The MMA Hour, Hearn revealed that the costs of the event will be too high, and that the venue is ‘dead’ in terms of options to stage the fight, instead suggesting the ‘3Arena’ as an alternative.
“So, the cost of hire, the cost of everything involved with the event, is nearly three times more than staging it at Wembley Stadium. It’s unbelievable and it is so frustrating. People will tweet me and say ‘Shut up Hearn, just do it anyway’, it doesn’t work like that, it is a business.
Ultimately, Katie Taylor has her financial demands for this fight, so does Amanda Serrano, and we want to make sure that we deliver them that. But we are so far out on that possibility, with the cost of running that show and now, we are out of time, in terms of delivering that date to the broadcaster. We’ve got to move.”
“Now, we will be in a big arena in Dublin, subject to Serrano wining [against Erika Cruz] and subject to tying up a deal, then hopefully in September we revisit Croke Park. It is frustrating, but at the same time, I promised Katie Taylor that we would be in Ireland for her next fight. It will be the most sensational atmosphere, wherever we are, but we will see what happens on Saturday night.”
Hearn went on to provide a tentative date for the second fight, again all depending on the result of Amanda Serrano’s fight this coming weekend.
“Sooner or later, you have to make a decision. You have to make a move, and the move is that we want to go on May 20th. That is the date, and unless we go now, it is going to be another moment where we miss a fight for Katie in Ireland, and I’m not prepared to do that anymore.”
For the rematch to be made, Amanda Serrano must first get past WBA champion, Erika Cruz Hernandez, who she fights for the undisputed featherweight title on Saturday 4th February.
The card will also feature an undisputed super-featherweight title fight as Alycia Baumgardner takes on France’s Elhem Mekhaled.