‘We're lucky to have her' – RTE star pays heartfelt tribute to Katie Taylor as pair share embrace in New York
The pair shared an embrace after The Bray Bomber
Advertisement
3
O'Flynn is a familiar face from RTE News broadcasts over the years
Credit: @OFlynnPaul
3
One judge had it 95-95 while the other two scored it 97-93
Credit: Sportsfile
3
Her mother Bridget and siblings were ringside to cheer her on
Credit: Sportsfile
O'Flynn had been dispatched to
And upon the completion of the one-sided trilogy, he snagged a photo with the jubilant 39-year-old as he hailed her as a fighter and person.
He praised: "A fresh Katie Taylor in NY this am! Whatever comes next, I've been honoured to follow her career for RTE Sport.
"From Bray to Barbados, China, the Olympics and an epic Serrano trilogy. A champion, amazing ambassador for our country & a lovely person. We're lucky to have her."
Advertisement
Read More On Irish Sport
Taylor and Serrano topped an all-female billing at a sold-out Madison Square Garden. If their first two fights were white-knuckle brawls that had fans on their feet, the third was a more strategic affair.
Both
And promoter
The Matchroom Boxing head honcho added: "It is a non negotiable, mate. On so many different levels.
Advertisement
Most read in Boxing
"The way she carries herself, the role model she is to young people, the way she fights, the way she trains, the barriers she has broken down.
"Just a complete legend. I'm proud of her, you should be proud of her, the whole of Ireland."
Jake Paul brutally shuts down reporter over proposals for groundbreaking change to boxing
Speaking after her hand was raised, Taylor offered the
Hearn, however, suggested that Ireland's favourite daughter is fresh as a daisy and has plenty left in the tank.
Advertisement
He said: "if it was really tough tonight, does the conversation come where you say: is it time?
"She is fresh as a daisy. She can do another 30 rounds. Normally, she is out on her feet.
"When she boxes like that, I know it might not be as enjoyable but if you know anything about boxing, that is an absolute masterclass."
IN HER OWN WORDS
Katie herself added: "I thought I was boxing very very smart, very well. She wasn't catching me with much tonight.
Advertisement
"It is always a very, very close contest between myself and Amanda. Sometimes it is hard to tell from each round but I just thank God that my hand was raised and I am 3-0.
"I was coming in here planning to fight disciplined and smart. I was planning on doing it the other two times but it didn't work out like that!
"Thankfully I was able to execute the game plan really well. I have a huge amount of respect for Amanda Serrano. What a warrior! Thank you so much."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
'True rebels, true patriots': Thomond Park sees The Wolfe Tones play their final ever gig
The end of an era is the only way to describe the final ever live performance by The Wolfe Tones, and the trio at its core used their last concert to call for peace in Palestine, peace in Ireland, and also took a swipe at 'British propaganda' in the 1980s. After just over six decades together, the legendary Irish balladeers, who first announced their retirement at the end of 2023, said a final farewell to their fans as a summer heatwave broke in Thomond Park. Fans danced and sang in the rain, not allowing the weather to dampen the celebrations of a 60-year career. Limerick City was a sea of green on Sunday evening as 29,000 fans made the pilgrimage to the sold-out rugby stadium for the last time to see the rebel music band, the rainfall reflecting the tears of many of their devoted followers. Those in the crowd had accents from all corners of Ireland and beyond and sported 40 shades of green, Celtic ponchos, tricolour balaclavas a la Kneecap, and a spectrum of rain ponchos to the landmark event. Some of the fans enjoying the final farewell - Picture by: Kieran Ryan-Benson With support from Irish singer Dave Lofts and Scottish group Brógeal, the night in Thomond was a retirement do like no other. Taking to the stage at 8.15pm, Noel Nagle, Brian Warfield and Tommy Byrne were visibly emotional at the culmination of their musical career together, not least after some high-profile messages on the big screen. They came on stage after a recorded message from Mary Lou McDonald thanking them for being 'true rebels, true patriots' and singing the opening of Let the People Sing, before Kellie Harrington thanked them for teaching Irish people about their history. Kneecap also earned high-pitched cheers with their video tribute, which included the slogan 'tiocfaidh ár lá'. 'We are proud to have told the story of Ireland for 61 years,' Warfield told the crowd, reflecting on their gigs in the US and Australia during the Troubles before singing their opening song My Heart Is In Ireland. The band was not slow to call out international injustices during their swan song gig, and they called on Israel to return Palestine to the Palestinian people. Brian Warfield at Thomon Park - Picture by: Kieran Ryan-Benson 'The Wolfe Tones have always been concerned about people and peace in the world. I believe that Israel is going to cause the next world war,' Warfield said. 'They must give over the land to the Palestinian people. God knows we see the suffering of the children there.' As they sang Song of Liberty, several in the crowd held Palestinian flags aloft beside Irish tricolours. 'We have to fight for the people of Ireland,' Warfield said, citing hospital waiting lists as just one area he would like to see to. 'The Wolfe Tones are finishing up tonight but I will continue to fight for the Irish people.' The setlist included some of their most beloved and best-known tunes, including The Teddy Bear's Head, Come Out Ye Black And Tans, The Boys of the Old Brigade, God Save Ireland, and You'll Never Beat The Irish. Celtic Symphony was another tune that had the crowd on their feet, with its notorious verse of 'ooh ah, up the RA', echoing around the stadium before the group settled into a calmer pace with the ever-popular, The Streets of New York. A highlight reel from their decades-long career wouldn't be complete without 'the fastest-selling record in Ireland' at the time, 1973's hit The Helicopter Song. Unsurprising, Sean South went down well with the Limerick crowd, who were back on their feet to honour the Garryowen man. Wolf Tones Final Performance in Thomond Park, Limerick. It was in a high-paced mash-up with The Broad Black Brimmer, Big Strong Man, Rock on Rockall, Irish Eyes Are Smiling, and Some Say the Devil is Dead. They dedicated some time to the Easter Rising of 1916, paying tribute to James Connolly and Padraig Pease before telling 'the greatest love story in the world' with Grace, which ended with soloist Byrne bowing and thanking the crowd for their applause. His bandmate Warfield said he believes Byrne is 'one of the greatest ballad singers in the world.' Before singing The Ballad of Joe McDonnell, which received the loudest and longest applause, Warfield said the British government spread 'bullshit' about Irish people being terrorists at the time. Byrne said it is 'the best song that I have ever sung'. The Wolfe Tones ensured their fans were together On The One Road as their musical journey came to an end and hoarse fans left Thomond Park with a call for Irish unity and A Nation Once Again ringing in their ears along with the knowledge that they had been witness to a major part of Ireland's music history.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Katie Taylor erases all the question marks with her third win over Amanda Serrano
The trilogy ends. And there were hints, too, in the sweet early hours of Saturday morning that this might be all she wrote for Katie Taylor as well. After a raucous night on the fringes of Hell's Kitchen, Taylor closed the books on her riveting series of fights against Amanda Serrano and finished with an unblemished record. Just as she had promised during the week of promotion in New York, she got it done. These athletes will age and finally retire, and the record books will record that the Irish fighter ended with a perfect three wins from three against the Puerto Rican. That bare statistic reveals nothing of the closeness or true controversies or the mutual respect contained within these encounters. It was a lofty sports rivalry. But in the end, Taylor managed to erase the question marks and silence the grumbles after their previous two battles to finish with a supremely controlled performance. She owned the night. Taylor has pioneered what has been a marvel of a fighting life by executing it precisely on her own terms. So it went in New York. Madison Square Garden was something to behold. That area around Eighth and the lower 30s is a 24-hour confluence of extreme tourism and city poverty and grit. All of human life was outside the arena on Friday night. Inside, a wildly partisan and noisy sell-out crowd filled with Puerto Rican and Irish fans, both in a mood to celebrate. The previous encounters had led them to expect something primal. READ MORE 'The atmosphere was absolutely electric tonight,' Taylor said when she sat down late into the night, Madison Square Garden low-lit now and empty except for the staff who were locking up. 'And to be headlining an all-female card was an absolute privilege. These are the sort of opportunities that people didn't even think possible a few years ago. The two fights previous ended up complete wars and I came out the ring battered and bruised, and I was thinking, why am I just standing there fighting her? I knew I was capable of moving my legs and just outboxing her. And I was just happy that I was able to execute the game plan Ross [Enamait] was telling me to do all along. I used the ring a lot better tonight. My feet were a lot better tonight. I felt it was my kind of fight, and my kind of pace as well.' [ Tuning out the noise, Katie Taylor steels herself for last dance with Amanda Serrano Opens in new window ] Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano embrace after the fight. Photograph: Gary Carr/Inpho Taylor looked at peace as she spoke. In Texas last winter, her face was swollen and cut after her war with Serrano. This time, a single bruise to her cheekbone where Serrano's head actually glanced against hers. She finished the fight fresher, gliding on the edges of the danger zone and comprehensively outscoring the Puerto Rican, who was exhausted from trying to make her punches land against the elusive Irish woman. Listening to her, it was hard to predict if she will fight again. 'I don't know,' she said of the future. 'I am just going to enjoy this victory right now and sit back and reflect. I am very, very happy with tonight's performance and just the amount of work I am doing over the past few months, myself and Ross, it was a gruelling few months of preparation and I'm so glad I was able to showcase what I could do tonight.' Katie Taylor in action against Puerto Rican American boxer Amanda Serrano. Photograph: Sarah Yenesel/EPA Make no mistake, the crowd in the Garden came in the belief that the fight would break into a gladiatorial brawl as soon as the first bell sounded and would move into uncharted country from there. As it turned out, the flashpoints of furious engagements were periodic and brief but with each one, the decibel level in the arena turned deafening. It's hard to imagine the noise levels had the athletes just forgotten their instructions and submitted to the crowd instincts and wish for a schoolyard brawl. In the second round, a familiar pattern began to establish itself: Serrano hunting, Taylor circling the ring, avoiding trouble and seeking to pick off clean punches. The dam threatened to break with 45 seconds remaining in the third, when Taylor, leading with the ultra-accurate left jab, landed three quick punches on the Puerto Rican. Serrano countered with a flurry of her own but Taylor, at 39, has lost little of her ability to become a ghost in the ring: she was gone. On it went, Serrano in the middle of the canvas, searching out Taylor, who used that wonderful footwork and pure boxing supremacy to guide her through the 10 rounds of two minutes. Judge Mark Lyson scored the fight a draw but the other two, Steve Weisfeld and Nicolas Esnault, had it emphatically in Taylor's favour, 97-93, and, in or around midnight, Taylor was still the undisputed super featherweight champion of the world. Katie Taylor makes her entrance to the fight at Madison Square Garden. Photograph: Gary Carr/Inpho The Irish crowd was delighted and it was impossible to hear what Taylor said in the ring afterwards. But she was effusive in her praise of Serrano, and of her faith, and struck an uncertain note when asked about what the future holds now. 'Maybe Croke Park?' she laughed when asked if she could promise her Irish supporters at least one more bout. 'That would be unbelievable. I said it in the ring earlier – these people are spending their hard-earned money to come over and support me. It means the world. And I can't believe this is my life – I'm heading a show in Madison Square Garden, an all-female card. Looking back at the whole journey – what an amazing ride. These are the nights I dreamed of a kid, and I am just so happy and so grateful. What an amazing champion. We created history together three times. My name will always be embedded with hers and I am very happy about that. It's amazing to have a rival like that in the sport.' Katie Taylor celebrates winning alongside her mother, Bridget. Photograph: Gary Carr/Inpho As an event, the Netflix-streamed all-women's card was a glittering success, drawing a close to sell-out crowd and giving the women's fight game an unprecedented stage. Afterwards, Taylor's promoter, Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn, beaming and wearing an Emerald green bucket cap, made the reasonable point that Taylor has been the alchemist for all of this. 'I'm not speaking on Katie's behalf, but I know she's always wanted female boxing to sit alongside men's boxing. It's not two codes. And I've always said that Katie Taylor is not just one of the greatest female fighters of all time but one of the greatest fighters of all time. And that was the barrier that she broke. 'So, we don't compare the female and the male code. It's just boxing. But. What they did tonight was give so many opportunities to so many great female fighters and big pay-days and she won't say it: it is down to her.' Katie Taylor greets fans after winning her bout with Amanda Serrano. Photograph: Gary Carr/Inpho [ Shaping the Century: 25 brilliant Irish women in 2025 Opens in new window ] Whether the sport can produce a rivalry as compelling and high-quality as Taylor and Serrano remains to be seen. Both have earned six-figure pay-days from their rivalry and thrust the women's fight game into a spotlight that would have seemed fanciful when Taylor set out on the professional circuit nine years ago. The Irish crowd stayed to give her a deafening ovation before heading back out to the delights of the island. 'I don't think anybody could deny I won tonight's fight, so it is very satisfying,' Taylor said finally. 'There was a controversy in those decisions, so I feel very, very satisfied right now that it was lights-out.'
RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Live Aid showed 'individual was not powerless'
Irish musician Bob Geldof said that 40 years on from Live Aid the concerts inspired people to feel that "the individual was not powerless" and that they could change the world. Two concerts were organised by Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia - one in London's Wembley Stadium and another in Philadelphia's JFK Stadium. Queen, David Bowie, U2, Elton John, Madonna and The Beach Boys were among the artists who graced the stages 40 years ago. Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Geldof said his memories of organising the gigs were "panic, exhaustion and worry". "[We had] no contracts with any of these guys. We weren't paying them anything. Would they show up? Would people give us money? I mean, we now know a week later, we had in today's money $485 million," he said. It is estimated that around 1.9 billion people tuned in across the world to watch Live Aid. Geldof said it sparked a journey leading to the 2005 G8 summit in Scotland where "the boys and girls with guitars and pianos" corralled and bent the world's economic and political leaders to their will. "They did what we asked, which was to forgive the debt of the poorest countries in Africa and to double aid." The Boomtown Rats singer said the legacy of Live Aid continues to resonate with people. "There's a sense that Live Aid gave people an air of possibility that the individual was not powerless in the face of human monstrosity that the world was not immutable, that things can change and you can be a small part of tilting the world slightly towards right path," he said. However, Geldof said music and pop stars "can't resolve" the wars and poverty that people face around the world. "The horror you just described in Palestine is beyond disgusting. It's beyond disgrace. But pop music can't resolve that. People constantly ask, 'should we do a Live Aid for this?' No. You've got to posit a solution that we can all work towards," he said. Geldof added: "That's relatively easy when you've got a famine and 32 million people about to die of hunger. "And so, the object was let's stop as many of them down as possible. Let's get as many people watching. So that creates a political lobby, and we can use that to change the conversation. "It's far more difficult with what seems to be an intractable situation in Palestine. "One: Just stop killing. And two: Implement a two-state solution. That's what's been called for for years. It's not difficult, but pop music and pop concerts will not do that." Geldof said that he wouldn't hold another Live Aid again because "it wouldn't work this time" due to the rise of social media and the waning influence of rock'n'roll. "The rock'n'roll age probably ended around 2005," he said. "Between 1955 and was the spine of the culture, it's how society determined ways forward politically, economically, socially, theologically, philosophically. "That's no longer true. In 2004, Google, for the first time, made a profit. In 2004, there was a new thing called Facebook invented," Geldof said. He added: "Social media determines now those areas. Rock'n'roll now, it's like music in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Fabulous artists, fantastic music. "But it's gone back to being, for you personally, the background to your life. "The moment when you kissed that girl or that boy, that will always be there, but as a determinant of society, I'm less convinced."
