Katie Taylor’s illustrious career is set to end with a finale scheduled in Dublin this summer.
The Irish superstar (25-1, 6 KOs) had to wait until her 23rd professional contest to make her Irish debut. Sadly for Taylor, she would lose a majority decision to Chantelle Cameron at the 3Arena in the Irish capital in 2023. However, she would overturn the result in a rematch later that year at the same venue, but there was a huge push to land the fight at the famous 82,000-capacity Croke Park.
It wouldn’t materialize due to the large fees needed to secure the stadium. The costs for Taylor to face Cameron at Croke Park are estimated to be in the region of 800,000 to 1.1 million euros. At the time, Taylor’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was looking to collaborate with the Irish government and the Dublin authorities to bring those costs down, but to no avail.
Hearn spoke on the subject late last night on The Ariel Helwani Show: “I have to deliver Croke Park, I have to. I have to find a way.”
Croke Park is Ireland’s national stadium and the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, where the finals of all Gaelic sports are hosted.
“If I don’t give this everything,” Hearn explained, “if I don’t try my very hardest to make this a reality, I’m not doing Katie justice and I’m not doing myself justice, because this would be the greatest sporting event in the history of Ireland.”
A specific date and opponent are not confirmed at the time of writing. However, a trilogy with Chantelle Cameron has been reported. England’s Cameron recently signed a promotional deal with Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions. She will take on Michaela Kotaskova in London on April 5.
“There have been conversations for a while with Croke Park, and now they have picked back up again,” Hearn continued. “I feel that this time there is more momentum. There is a real swell from the whole country that this needs to happen. The way I feel about it, Katie feels like that, the country feels like that. Of course, she has had the benefit of Netflix shows.”
Taylor would head into a rematch with Amanda Serrano following her two duels with Cameron, winning by unanimous decision. A trilogy took place last July, with Taylor making it 3-0 against the Puerto Rican.
“I just think it would be a huge event,” Hearn added. “Who deserves it more than her, in that respect.”
