Katie Taylor's chances of defending her world title at Croke Park in October got a huge boost with stadium bosses and residents saying it’s a knockout idea.
As the Irish Mirror revealed on Monday, the boxing queen dreams of treating fans to a world-beating performance on home soil.
After the weekend’s historic win in New York, she said: “We could sell out Croke Park. Imagine fighting in front of 80,000 people at Croke Park. Absolutely that can happen.”
Read more: Boxing legend Katie Taylor deserves 'big' homecoming celebration after huge win
However, concerns were expressed immediately because the GAA’s famous stadium has a three-gig annual limit as it is in a densely populated residential area where households fear they are disproportionately affected by events held throughout the year.
But yesterday, Croke Park stadium bosses and a high-profile residents’ association spokesperson said objections could be removed to give the “national hero” a “special one-off event”.
Croke Park stadium manager Peter McKenna said: “There is huge interest in a Katie Taylor boxing match in Dublin, especially in Croke Park. The stadium would be available at that time of year [in October]. It would be fantastic for the economy and the area.”
Pat Gates of the Croke Park Area Residents’ Alliance believes a Katie Taylor fight would be a “special one-off event”.
He said: “I would be delighted to see Katie fight at Croke Park, as it would be a special one-off event.
“Not sure what the planning issues may be for Croke Park, as they know they have gone over the acceptable number of events per annum.
Read more: Heartwarming unseen moment between Katie Taylor and mother Bridget after victory
“But, personally, I would see Katie’s fight as a special one-off event for a national hero and amazing woman. That makes it very different from five concerts over two weekends [like country music star Garth Brooks in September]. I have not discussed this with my residents’ association, but we will meet to get people’s views.”
Residents were due to meet last night to discuss possible concerns about another sell-out fixture at the stadium.
The giant 82,000-capacity stadium has already staged two concerts by pop star Ed Sheeran, and Garth Brooks is due to hold five more in September.
Dublin City Council controversially voted in favour of granting permission for the five Brooks gigs on top of the two Sheeran concerts.
And it now looks like the likelihood of 2012 Olympic champion Katie fighting in Croke Park – just like Muhammad Ali in 1972 – has been given a major boost by administrators inside GAA headquarters and residents outside the stadium.
Boxing promoters believe the fight would be a gripping rematch between Katie and Puerto Rican scrapper Amanda Serrano.
The pair’s titanic tussle in New York saw world champ Katie, from Bray, Co Wicklow, eventually win the toughest fight of her life. It was the first ever headline bout by two women at Madison Square Garden and was billed as the biggest ever fight in women’s boxing history.
Analysts say a Croker revenge clash would be the first time in boxing history that two female fighters would top a stadium fight bill.
Katie is still recovering from the weekend victory, but her manager Brian Peters and her promoter Eddie Hearn are believed to be actively encouraging the possibility of a rematch later this year.
Eddie said: “It would be a big shame if Katie didn’t get to fight in Ireland in her career.”
Katie’s Olympic gold was won in London 10 years ago and all 21 wins of her professional fights have been abroad since she turned pro in 2016. Producers say that broadcasting the match to a worldwide audience, especially to boxing fans in America, will be a key issue for streaming network DAZN.
Most of its subscribers are in the US, meaning a Dublin fight time of 11pm would see the match broadcast at 6pm in New York and 3pm in LA.
Katie’s fans in Ireland would hope that her homecoming fight would be screened live by free-to-air domestic broadcasters RTE or Virgin Media.
Two former Dublin Lord Mayors, Cllrs Christy Burke and Niall Ring, have vowed to table a motion before the council at next week’s Central Area Committee meeting for an emergency motion to grant a licence for the bout.
Cllr Burke said: “The conversation about a rematch being held in Croke Park needs to be started instead of waiting for the last minute.”
Cllr Ring said: “If we can’t have this type of boxing match at Croke Park, then where can we have it? The number [of events] allowed on a yearly basis needs to be altered upwards.”
Read more: Kellie Harrington congratulates "warrior" Katie Taylor on "absolutely incredible" win
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