Katie Taylor has said she is ready to bring her professional boxing career to an end this year and reiterated her hope of finishing with a final fight in the spiritual home of Irish sport, Croke Park.
The undisputed super-lightweight world champion is currently the WBC’s Champion in Recess and holds the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles after retaining her belts against Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden in July of last year, with a homecoming in Dublin remaining a long-standing ambition as she winds down one of the most legendary careers the sport has even seen.
“I was thinking after my last fight, an amazing trilogy against Amanda Serrano, that I would love to end my career here in Ireland,” said Taylor. “This is my last year, probably, in the ring boxing. I’m going to be 40 this year.
“I would love to end my career here. And I would absolutely love to have an opportunity to fight here in Croke Park. That would be the icing on the cake for me. That would be an absolute dream for me come true. I’m not sure if it’s ever going to happen, but that is the dream that I have. I’m excited to see what this year has for me.”
Taylor said her choice of opponent is secondary to finishing her career in Ireland. “Whoever the opponent is, I want to end my career on a high here in the country that I love and the country that I’ve represented throughout my whole career. I love Ireland. I’m living in Connecticut obviously over the last few years and it makes me appreciate Ireland even more. I love being at home. I love my country. I love the people that I’m surrounded by. I just love the Irish people and I would love to bring a big night back to Ireland again in the ring.”
The 39-year-old said she is unsure whether any talks are currently underway to make the fight happen. “I’m not sure if there’s any conversations happening right now. We obviously tried to make that happen a couple of years ago and it wasn’t possible but I’m still not giving up hope.”
She returned again to the significance of the venue as she looked ahead to the final stage of her career. “That will be the icing on the cake for me. It will be a dream come true to end my career in our most iconic arena. Just look at the place, it’s beautiful. It’s insane and there’s so much pride associated with Croke Park as well. We’ll see what happens.”
