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Katie Taylor ended her professional boxing career by outpointing Flora Pili before 83,000 fans at Croke Park. She leaves the sport as a three-time undisputed world champion after calling the occasion a dream ending to a dream career.
Katie Taylor said her Croke Park finale was 'everything I expected, and more' as she retired from professional boxing on Saturday night as a three-time undisputed world champion after outpointing France's Flora Pili.
She finished in front of 83,000 people at the Dublin venue. Croke Park has never seen a night like it. It was boxing's first visit to the stadium since Muhammad Ali fought there in 1972, and the homecoming was long thought impossible before tickets sold out in record time. Fireworks were set off from the roof as Taylor made her ringwalk.
Taylor signed off with a unanimous victory. The judges scored the fight 100-90, 100-90 and 98-91 in her favour, and she retires as undisputed super-lightweight champion. Saturday was only the third professional fight of her career in Ireland, following her two fights against Chantelle Cameron in Dublin in 2023. Afterwards, Taylor arrived in the press room fresh and relaxed, with no visible damage from the fight.
Nobody was in a hurry to leave, knowing the sport will be poorer without her. On a card that saw one Irish fighter leave the ring in a wheelchair and another knocked through the ropes and given oxygen, Taylor got out of boxing before boxing left her.
'Thankfully I was able to hold in my emotions,' Taylor said. 'I was getting emotional all week speaking about this event, and the last few months of preparation have been such an emotional few months, but the atmosphere was so special. ' 'This was beyond my wildest dreams,' she said. 'It was unbelievable.
What an amazing night. The walkout is always such a special time, but 83,000 people there, the screams of people, the atmosphere was insane.
' Taylor called the occasion the highlight of her whole career. 'I didn't think anything could get bigger than London 2012 but then MSG came along. I didn't think anything could get bigger than that first fight with Serrano and here we are in Croke Park.
' She added: 'I'm ending my career on top, which is what every athlete wants to do. I'm ending it on my terms and I'm ending as the undisputed champion. It was so important to me all along to end my career well.
' 'The whole country has seen me in my good times, but they've also seen me during my devastations as well,' Taylor said. 'They've seen me cope with the heartbreak of Rio, they've seen me cope with the heartbreak of losing to Chantelle Cameron, and also they've seen some personal difficulties as well. ' 'I think my story is the story of everybody in this room, everybody in the whole country,' she went on.
'We all have our good days, our bad days. Life is full of ups and downs. We all have seasons of struggle, seasons of success. My disappointments and my struggles have always been in the limelight.
' 'I don't know why the adoration is there but I'm just super grateful that it is there and super grateful for this nation. ' 'It was a dream ending to a dream career,' Taylor added. 'I don't think there's another country in the world that would sell 80,000 tickets for a female athlete. I'm convinced Ireland is the only country that would do that.
' Taylor admitted the end also means no more press conferences and no more nosy parkers asking her to explain her extraordinary life. She has never made a secret of disliking that side of boxing.
'I don't like controversy. I don't like the limelight. I don't like being the centre of attention. It's funny how I'm actually in this position in boxing, in such a dark world at times.
I'm probably the least likely person to actually be involved in this sport. But here I am.
' She has never needed trash talk to succeed. 'Thankfully I've never had to trash talk or talk down about anybody to actually succeed in the sport. I just let my excellence do my talking. I've always let my boxing do the talking, throughout my amateur career as well.
' 'I always found that was the best way, even to open doors for women's boxing when women's boxing wasn't accepted as a teenager. ' 'I determined very early on in my career not to talk but to show my boxing skills and just to let my excellence do the talking and let my talent do the talking. ' 'And I've kept that throughout my whole career,' she said.
Promoter Eddie Hearn pointed out the irony that, as she exits the stage, Taylor is finally talking up a storm. Manager Brian Peters revealed that plans are in progress for a touring stage show celebrating Taylor's career. Asked who might play her in a film, Taylor proposed Saoirse Ronan.
'She'll have to start working on her neck though, she has a bit of a skinny neck,' she joked.
IrishTimes 
The42_ie:'It was a dream ending to a dream career': Taylor savours her historic Croke Park finaleThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Katie Taylor Croke Park Retirement Flora Pili Boxing Undisputed Champion London 2012 MSG Serrano Cameron Leanne Kiernan Eddie Hearn Irish Sports Katie Taylor Retirement Women's Boxing
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