Eddie Hearn has admitted that a potential rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will not take place at Croke Park.
After Taylor narrowly outpointed Serrano at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in April, in the biggest women’s fight of all time, conversations quickly turned to a rematch in Ireland, with Croke Park the desired venue in Taylor’s home country.
Her promoter Hearn has now said, however, that the 82,000-capacity stadium in Dublin is no longer an option. Instead, the city’s 3Arena is likely to host the bout, which is targeted for 20 May.
“The cost of hire and everything involved in the event is three times higher, nearly, than staging it in Wembley Stadium,” Hearn said on The MMA Hour on Wednesday (1 February).
“Ultimately Katie Taylor has financial demands for this fight and so does Amanda Serrano, and we want to make sure we deliver on that.
“We’re so far out on that possibility on the cost of running that show, and we’re out of time on delivering that date to the broadcaster.”
Elaborating on the matter in an interview with Boxing King Media on Wednesday, Hearn added: “People will say on social media, ‘Oh, pay the money, Hearn!’ It’s like, no, no: The fighters want this much money; if we do it at Croke Park – even with a sellout – with the cost that they want to charge, it’s not possible to give the fighters what they deserve.”
Hearn also suggested that the Irish government could have done more to make Croke Park a viable venue.
“When you talk about government help or support, people think you shouldn’t be asking for that,” Hearn said. “If the government – and I’m not having a pop at the Irish government – are supporting sporting events, which they do, how can you not support an event that will be quite simply one of the greatest events in the history of Irish sport?”
Taylor remained undisputed lightweight champion with her split-decision win over Serrano last April, with the Puerto Rican calling for a rematch at featherweight, the division in which she reigns as unified champion.
Each woman has fought and won once since their clash in New York, with Serrano scheduled to fight again on Saturday (4 February) as she faces Erika Cruz.
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