Boxer Katie Taylor to hold farewell fight at Croke Park in Dublin
Irish boxer Katie Taylor will hold the final fight of her career on Saturday at Croke Park stadium in Dublin, Ireland. The 40-year-old Olympic champion and holder of titles in the light welterweight division will defend her belts before 80,000 spectators.
According to The Guardian, tickets for the show sold out within 17 minutes after sales opened in June. National broadcaster RTÉ will air the evening free of charge, and the programme will also feature musical performances, including by the band Westlife.
A farewell evening in Dublin
The previous boxing event at Croke Park took place in 1972, when Muhammad Ali faced Alvin Lewis. Taylor's brother-in-law and the founder of Liberty Boxing Gym, Trevor McMahon, called the upcoming fight the end of an era. According to him, the evening will be special, although also sad because of the athlete's retirement.
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Residents of the boxer's hometown of Bray in County Wicklow are preparing for the fight: hats, flags and posters featuring her image are being sold there. Local resident Catherine Hill said that Taylor had become an example for young girls who want to take up boxing or other sports.
Impact on women's boxing
Taylor began training as a child in a gym called Tin Can. At the time, women and girls were banned from entering the ring in Ireland and the United Kingdom, so she registered for fights under the name “K Taylor,” pretending to be a boy. Together with her father Pete, she helped bring about the lifting of the ban in Ireland in 2001, when she was 15.
Taylor later won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, headlined boxing events at Madison Square Garden and fought a trilogy of bouts against Amanda Serrano. Her opponent in the farewell fight will be 29-year-old Frenchwoman Flora Pili, who has won all 12 of her professional bouts and holds the IBO light welterweight title.
