Katie Taylor says the only way to end her career is by fighting on a main card in Croke Park. The Bray-born boxer’s management has been in talks with Croke Park to stage the bout, but there have been no dates confirmed yet. It had been suggested she may fight on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury, but that fight is likely to happen in October or November at Wembley. Katie doesn’t think being on an undercard would have suited her anyway. She said: ‘‘It would be an absolute dream. It feels like the only way to wrap it up really would be to end my career on home soil, and a big fight in Croke Park. All the people that have spent their hard-earned money supporting me around the world. I want to put on a performance worthy of their support and encouragement through the years as well.”
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn had previously dismissed the idea of Taylor fighting on an undercard, or at Wembley to end her career. However, the following day Sports Minister Charlie McConalogue revealed there has been no significant update on the situation, and stressed that the ball is very much in the court of Katie and her promoters. McConalogue said: ‘‘There's been no change from a government point of view. I would love to see Katie fight in Ireland to finish out her career. I know from what she said publicly that her team are certainly working on that. I think that she has wonderful respect from everyone in this country. She one of our finest ever athletes and I think the country would love to see her fight domestically over the course of this year as well. But from a government point of view, we haven’t received any specific proposal seeking support for a fight.’’
