Katie Taylor to be backed by Royal County supporters in farewell fight
Katie Taylor will look to bow out of her incredible boxing career on Saturday night with a win. With the support of a nation behind her, plenty of Meath locals will be making the trip to Croke Park to cheer her on.
This includes publican John Kiely, owner of Kiely’s of Trim, who is taking a squad of people to the capital in the hopes of seeing Taylor defend her undisputed super lightweight title.
John will be accompanied by over 50 people to Croker at the weekend, but revealed he would’ve loved to have taken even more boxing fans to the event on Saturday. However, as the 82,000 seater stadium sold out in an incredible 30 minutes, it’s safe to say Taylor’s last dance was the hottest ticket in the country.
Making the trip from Trim on Saturday afternoon will be customers and members of staff of Kiely’s, as John always had intentions of attending fight night following the announcement.
“To be honest, I didn’t think it was going to happen,” John said about Taylor’s Croke Park showdown. “It just seemed too big. It was the one they always wanted, but there were too many dots to put together.”
As John has been Stateside to support the 25-1 boxing star in her incredible trilogy with Amanda Serrano over recent years in New York and Texas, he is used to huge fight nights. However, he anticipates a much different night on Saturday.
“It’s a family friendly event, which is great, the atmosphere will be brilliant. That’s the way we are [like family], we’re a little local pub. Everyone knows each other.”
Matchroom Boxing, the promoters of the show, have even made accommodations for a more family-oriented show, which includes family tickets, no alcohol zones, and kids areas.
Although John said that excitement is through the roof for him and his fellow attendees making the trip from Trim, his primary thoughts are for a safe and successful night for Taylor.
“It’s the biggest fight of Katie Taylor’s life. It’s one of the biggest shows in Ireland this year.
“I just want to enjoy the atmosphere on the night. The main thing is that we hope Katie wins, and that she gets out of the ring without seriously hurting herself. That’s always the main thing.”
Although Taylor will be widely favoured by bookmakers for her last dance, John is not taking anything for granted against Flora Pili, who goes into the bout with a 12-0 record.
“A win is a bonus, but she’s still got a fight ahead of her. She's taking on an undefeated fighter from France. People think she’s just going to turn up and win, but boxing is unpredictable, anyone can win a fight.”
Among other Meath locals attending the event is Senchelstown’s Cian Carney, who is a lifelong fan of combat sports. Despite describing previous events in Dublin’s 3 Arena and Belfast’s O2 Arena as ‘electric’, the Meath man is anticipating something special on Saturday.
“I’m really excited, I can’t wait for the atmosphere. It’s going to be completely different to other shows I’ve been to. It will be like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
“I was hoping Katie would get her Croke Park outing, but I wasn’t sure if they’d pull it off. Sometimes I think combat sports aren’t able to shine on the big stage in Ireland, but Katie definitely deserves it.”
As for Taylor’s manager, Kilmessan man Brian Peters recently told The Irish News that his fighter’s final bout was never about the money.
“Money isn’t the prime directive here. We’re going to have people from six to 86 going to this event, we’ll have people from Donegal to Dingle to Belfast… all over. Cut an Irish person and they bleed GAA, they bleed Croke Park.
In terms of praise for the fighter who is considered to be the greatest women’s boxer of all time, Peters was not short of kind words.
“I believe Katie is the greatest Irish sportsperson of all time and she is one of the greatest Irish people of all time… We wouldn’t have even dreamed that [Croke Park] was possible.”