With official word breaking that Katie Taylor will have her final fight at home in Ireland, at Croke Park stadium on Sept. 5, Matchroom Boxing held an official press conference this morning to present the event to the world. Taylor could barely contain the smile on her face while it was all sinking in.
“We did it. We’ve actually brought boxing back to Croke Park. Amazing,” Taylor said. “ This was on my career bucket list for — especially these last couple of months — but this is beyond my wildest
dreams. We’re actually here, we got it over the line.
“This is going to be the most iconic moment of my whole career. I have a chance to fight in a packed house stadium at Croke Park, our most iconic venue. It’s the cathedral of Irish sport, really. And I also have a chance to become three time undisputed champion. How amazing is that. This is the perfect way to end my career and I have goosebumps.”
Taylor was then asked about how she thinks she’ll be able to handle the moment when the time comes, and the opponent in front of her in Flora Pili.
“I’ve got a real fight in front of me,” Taylor responded. “I think after the last fight I wasn’t sure whether I was going to fight again and the only thing that would give me that passion again was Croke Park, and I also wanted to be in a real fight with real risk, and that gives me the drive and hunger to go again. And I have that in Flora. This is a real fight. It’s a very dangerous fight and I have to be at my very, very best.
“But I do imagine that ring walk. This is going to be the last time I’m stepping into the ring and I think of hearing ‘Oley, Oley, Oleys’ around Croke Park one last time. Yeah, it’s going to be very, very special and I want to put on a performance worthy of everyone’s support over the last few years.
“I get a chance to put on one last performance in this amazing career, it’s beyond my wildest dreams, and I’m going to end on a high. I’m going to end on a career-best performance.”
