logo
Katie Taylor retirement hint as she discusses what's next after trilogy win

Katie Taylor retirement hint as she discusses what's next after trilogy win

Katie Taylor hinted that a fight at Croke Park would be the perfect way to end her career after beating Amanda Serrano for a third time.
The Bray Bomber produced one of the best performances of her career as she beat the Puerto Rican by majority decision at Madison Square Garden to retain her super-lightweight world titles.
Taylor's amateur skills and pedigree came to the fore in what was arguably her most dominant win over Serrano, despite one one judge scoring the bout a 95-95 draw. The other two had it 97-93 in her favour.
There surely aren't many better ways to end a career than by having your hand raised in victory at a sold-out MSG, but Taylor, who turned 39 last week, says she will enjoy the win first before making a decision on retirement.
"I'm just going to enjoy this victory right now and sit back, reflect, and then I'll make a decision about that soon," she said after the bout.
"But I'm very, very happy with tonight's performance and just the amount of work that we put in over the last few months, myself and Ross [Enamait, coach] , it was a gruelling few months of preparation we did for these kind of fights and I'm so glad I was able to showcase what I could do tonight."
Taylor was then asked if she could promise her fans back in Ireland that she would fight again on home soil.
"Maybe in Croke Park," the 2012 Olympic gold medallist immediately said in response. "That would be unbelievable. I said it in the ring earlier on, just these people are spending their hard-earned money to go over and support me. It just means the world. Honestly, I can't believe that this is my life.
"I'm headlining a show in Madison Square Garden, all-female card. Looking back on the whole journey, what an amazing life.
"These are nights that I dreamed of as a kid and to be sitting here again as a winner, I'm so happy, so grateful."
Unfortunately, the chances of a Croke Park fight realistically taking place are slim at best.
Taylor's promoters Matchroom have explored the idea a number of times in recent years, but the cost of renting the stadium and the security costs that go with it have been massive stumbling blocks.
Without some sort of financial help from the Irish government, it seems very unlikely that an event at GAA Headquarters will take place.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ireland abroad in England's inner city
Ireland abroad in England's inner city

Irish Post

time23 minutes ago

  • Irish Post

Ireland abroad in England's inner city

THE roll call in the classroom of a morning went along these lines. Condon, Daly, Egan, Horgan, Hennessy, Mahony, O'Donnell, O'Sullivan, O'Driscoll, Sheehy, Shields. I mean it was a long time ago but that's at least some of what I remember. This wasn't Ireland though. This was the inner city of England's second biggest city. This was England in the 1970s and 1980s and this was Ireland abroad. I've tried to explain to people that growing up in England my knowledge of England wasn't by any means extensive. I didn't really know any English people growing up. Our first next door neighbours were an Asian family and everyone else I knew was Irish. Everyone who came to the house, bar those neighbours, was Irish. Every kid at school came from an Irish family. The teachers were nuns or Irish or a few English Catholics who I never understood — and to this day English Catholicism remains something of a mystery to me. When I finally went away, at the late age of twenty, to do a degree in a northern English town I really didn't know where it was and anyone I asked didn't know either. This was pre the internet, you see, and the Irish people I lived amongst only really knew an English place if they'd had to go there. Outside of the tight streets of the city I grew up in I knew nothing of England. I never went to the English countryside. I was utterly flummoxed by cricket and my father used to say of it that it seems to go on all day and nothing seems to happen. I would definitely have failed Tebbit's cricket test on every level and, indeed, in ways he wouldn't have dreamed of. I knew my own city well and identified with it and spoke like it and was passionate about my local football team but England itself was as good as a foreign country to me. That did, of course, change, I went away to study, sort of anyway, and in the next decade I studied and worked in any number of big English cities. I got to know them all very, very well, and knew them easily. Birmingham, Preston, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, London, how are ya? Many aspects of English life remained foreign to me but I got to know the country well and the people of different cities and married into an English family and realised that for everything that divides us there is always far more that unites us. We are very different and we are much the same too. And that's not just okay, that's a good thing. The point is that being Irish for people like me was just a matter of fact. It wasn't a wishful thing. It wasn't an aspiration. It wasn't something negligible that was suddenly useful decades later when we wanted an Irish passport in order to beat Brexit rules. It was simply a factual recounting of who we were. I'm fairly sure, for instance, that if by some chance my parents had found some corner of England where we were the only Irish family that would have been completely different. Our house would have still been Irish but we would have had no choice but to be English outside because there would be nothing but England outside. It wasn't like that though. The Irish emigrated to the big cities because they simply went where there was most work. Thousands and thousands of them. The UK economy has relied on immigration and the labour of immigrants for decade after decade. They might resent that now but that doesn't make it any less true. We built their cities. And we made them sing and dance and echo with our lives. I haven't lived in England since 1999 and each time I go back the strangest feeling I have is of how foreign it all is. Some of that is merely the passing of time. Some of it is the nature of the immigrant existence in that it contains a certain transitory element. Where I grew up has completely changed. One wave of immigrants is replaced by another. And so it goes. Still, I can't help but notice, that the country I was born in was once like a foreign country to me, became a country whose cities I knew well and closely, and is now a foreign country to me all over again. When our parents made the decision to get on that boat who'd have thought how far the ripples would travel. See More: Birmingham, Ireland, Irish

My Life: Jerry Lee Lewis borrowed cash from me. I never got my fiver back
My Life: Jerry Lee Lewis borrowed cash from me. I never got my fiver back

Irish Examiner

timean hour ago

  • Irish Examiner

My Life: Jerry Lee Lewis borrowed cash from me. I never got my fiver back

THEY say you should never meet your heroes. I never imagined that mine would relieve me of a fiver. Jerry Lee Lewis was, after all, a pioneer of rockabilly music — and probably not short of a few bob. Rewind almost 30 years when I was a teenager in the 1950s. The musical landscape was barren for kids my age. Our Spotify was a wireless with a choice between opera or crooners like Bing Crosby. Rock n roll pianist Jerry Lee Lewis was the saviour young music fans had been waiting for. As the years went on his fame hit the stratosphere. Signature tunes like Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On became mere background noise in the bedroom of almost every Irish teenager. I was no exception. Nearly three decades later, I came face to face with rock n' roll's first great wild man . It was 1983 and his career had taken something of a battering. A litany of scandals including a wedding to his considerably younger second cousin and a visit to Elvis Presley's home with a shotgun, had all but eroded the 'killer's' appeal. A celebrity in this day and age would sink without a trace, but he somehow managed to stay afloat. News of his arrival to the real capital sent rock n' roll fans into a frenzy. Meanwhile, I had received an invitation from Beamish and Crawford to assist with The Carling Country Music festival. The event was a notable one in Cork that attracted world renowned performers. To my delight, Jerry Lee Lewis was the headline act that year and my role was to liaise between the tour managers and sponsors. I'll never forget the first time I met Jerry Lee Lewis. He shied away from fans for the most part but I did become great friends with his tour manager JW Whitton. We didn't see much of Jerry. A lot of his time was spent in his room with his secretary. I think he tired of the tedious and perfunctory exchanges. 'I'm your biggest fan. Your records are the greatest.' It was the same conversation on loop every day. Through an outsider's lens, this didn't seem like much of a life at all. I'm not sure Jerry even realised which city he was in. Moreover, he was a man, who was very detached from the real world. This was evident from his rider which demanded that a chef be on call for him 24 hours a day. If he woke up at 3am and decided he wanted a roast dinner with all the trimmings his request would need to be honoured. When he wasn't playing concerts Jerry was unapologetically reclusive. He outright refused to meet with fans and sought refuge in his dressing room. There was just one man he made an exception for. To this day I wish I'd brought a camera with me. There were chaotic scenes outside Cork Opera House that night. Everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of the star after his concert. Among the crowd was Hugh Coveney who was Lord Mayor at the time. It just so happened that he was also a diehard rock n roll fan. However, even his request to meet Jerry Lee Lewis was met with disinterest. JW was steadfast in his disapproval repeatedly stating: 'Jerry Lee Lewis doesn't meet with fans.' Suddenly an idea struck me. Hugh had brought along the trademark chain which was sitting in a wooden box for safekeeping. I removed the piece from its container and placed it around JW's neck. 'You're wearing the Lord Mayor's chain now,' I informed him with authority, 'and as the Lord Mayor of Cork you get to make the decisions.' His expression immediately softened and he let out a hearty laugh. Next thing we knew Hugh Coveney and I were being bundled into Jerry's dressing room where the star was nursing a glass of scotch. It appeared that the tides had turned and now Jerry was the one who was starstruck. 'Wow!' the star exclaimed. 'You are the best looking mayor I have ever seen.' We all basked in his admiration for Cork's first citizen. It was a proud moment. Of all the Lord Mayors Jerry Lee Lewis had ever met, he thought ours was the most handsome. This was high praise indeed, given all the countries he had performed in. Two days later I had the enviable task of accompanying Jerry and JW to the airport. It was no easy feat and at one point I found myself hauling out a superfan who had snuck into the back of their limousine. That was at 7am and we were attempting to leave the Metropole Hotel. Luckily, we made it to the airport without incident. JW wandered off at one stage, leaving me standing outside the airport shop with Jerry Lee Lewis. I tried my best to make conversation. 'That was a great concert,' I opined. 'I really enjoyed it.' 'Gee thanks,' Jerry replied, finally showing some semblance of enthusiasm. What happened next was the most baffling encounter of my life. 'Old Jerry Lee doesn't carry money,' he told me. JW takes care of these things. I need some money for pipe tobacco. His helpless expression was lamentable. Here was this big star, who had little idea how to do anything for himself and didn't even carry around his own money. I didn't waste any time and immediately produced a fiver from my pocket. 'You tell JW you gave old Jerry Lee tobacco money and he'll take care of it,' he reassured me. It was just before they boarded the plane that I uttered those pitiful words. 'Jerry said to tell you that I gave him £5 for tobacco.' Sadly, JW didn't take the hint. 'Another generous gesture, thank you so much Patrick. You Irish are terrific.' With that, they were gone. I might never have got my fiver back, had it not been for the legendary Johnny Cash, who was headlining the festival two years later. His tour manager was a different animal to JW and was very urbane. Cash had 12 stage suits which needed to be dry cleaned. It was Easter so everywhere was closed but I knew a friend with a dry cleaners who opened up especially. The fee was £120 but they gave me an extra £30 for my troubles. My faith in human nature had been restored. It's true what they say about meeting your heroes. Most of them inhabit a completely different world so they will never quite live up to your expectations but that's just my two cents-or rather five pounds-worth.

Improved All Blacks dominate France in Wellington to win series
Improved All Blacks dominate France in Wellington to win series

Irish Examiner

timean hour ago

  • Irish Examiner

Improved All Blacks dominate France in Wellington to win series

New Zealand hit their stride with a much improved performance to beat France 43-17 in the second test on Saturday, running in six tries to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. All Blacks coach Scott Robertson had called for better execution after the tight 31-27 win in the first test in Dunedin last weekend and his players delivered to sew up the series with next week's Hamilton clash to spare. Cam Roigard, Ardie Savea, Codie Taylor and Tupou Vaa'i all crossed to give the hosts a 29-3 halftime lead before Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane added two more tries after the break. Six Nations champions France, who travelled south without most of their first-choice players, never got going until the second half and had to settle for tries from Leo Barre and Irish-born Joshua Brennan, son of former Irish international Trevor, after the break. "We wanted to bring fire in our defence and I thought we did that in most parts of the game," said captain Savea, whose 29th test five-pointer saw him overtake Richie McCaw as New Zealand's most prolific try-scoring forward. "Still, credit to the French, they never give up, they're always there. So I'm proud of our boys for sticking it in and just doing a good job tonight." "Obviously, really disappointed with the score. We wanted to prove much more today," said France winger Emilien Gailleton. "But we're going to recover and come back for next week. We want to finish our season with a good performance." Reuters

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store