Katie Taylor might never box again if she doesn’t secure Croke Park for her career finale.
Taylor, a superstar in Ireland, has won Olympic gold and gone undisputed in two weight divisions. She avenged her sole professional loss when she beat Chantelle Cameron in their rematch and had an epic trilogy of fights with Amanda Serrano.
The only goal she has not yet attained is to fight at Croke Park, Ireland’s 80,000 seat stadium.
Her promoter Eddie Hearn suspects if the Croke Park finale can’t happen, Taylor will never box again.
“Croke Park or bust,” he told Sky Sports. “[If] it’s not happening, I think she’d go: ‘I’m done.’
“I think the deflation of not getting Croke Park will lend itself to saying I surrender.”
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Caroline Dubois says she will not look desperate chasing a fight with Katie Taylor as the Irish boxing legend will never accept the challenge.
But he is hopeful it can be done.
“We’re in a good place,” he said. “It’s not confirmed but we’re making huge progress in that respect. Planning for end of August, early September. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself.
“We believe now we have the support of Croke Park, we know we have the support of the Irish people, let’s just create something people will never forget.
“This is above and beyond boxing, this is folklore in this country. The event won’t just be boxing. It’ll be a celebration of Irish sport and culture and heritage and music and all that kind of stuff. Don’t get me wrong, there’ll be some great fights on the card.”
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Former unified super-welterweight champion Natasha Jonas, who hasn’t fought since March of last year, admits only a ‘big occasion’ could tempt her back to the boxing ring.
It is too early to say who Taylor’s final opponent would be. “A lot comes down the weight class, a lot comes down to the money,” Hearn said.
“We spoke to MVP [Most Valuable Promotions], they’ve talked about Caroline Dubois, they’ve been pushing Stephanie Han very hard, she’s a lightweight world champion.
“Once we get the all clear we’ll start exploring opponents.”
He added: “There’s a load of options. We have got about four mandatories with different governing bodies. We haven’t looked too hard across that yet because we want to make sure we can definitely do it first. As that draws closer we’ll start reaching out to people.
“We want a good fight. It’s got to be a real fight.”
