After her win over Chantelle Cameron at Dublin’s Three Arena last month to become a two-weight undisputed champion, Katie Taylor says she would love to fight at Croke Park at some stage. The Bray-born boxer, who surprised a lot of pundits by coming back to beat Cameron, said: ‘‘The last person to box at Croke Park was Muhammed Ali, that was against Al Blue Lewis in 1972. Ali was the greatest and I would love to follow him at Croke Park.’’
It’s early days and promoter Eddie Hearn says he is going to take it easy, but that Katie’s next fight will definitely be outdoors. Hearn said: ‘‘There are the only two mega-fights out there that Croke Park warrants. My first thoughts are if we are going into Croke Park, which we will do everything we can to, Chantelle Cameron is the pick for the trilogy. And it is really only Chantelle or Amanda Serrano. So, if those fighters want that opportunity and those paydays and the chance at legacy, like Katie can deliver, absolutely, we would too.’’
Last time, negotiations with the GAA broke down over costs, with Hearn and Croke Park top brass engaged in a war of words. This time Hearn says he is anxious to let Brian Peters, Katie’s manager, take the lead. ‘‘I have got to be careful. I don’t want to upset anyone in the process, so maybe Brian, the local, can come in and have these friendly chats. But I feel like everyone has to put pressure on, from the country to politicians to the sport.’’
Hearn has also said that he has discussions with the Aviva Stadium in Ballsbridge regarding staging a fight for Katie next summer. Singer Ed Sheeran visited Katie in her dressing room in the Three Area after her fight last month and promised her that he would sing her out at she enters the ring, if she fights in Croke Park next year. Meanwhile the World Boxing Organization, one of the sport’s four sanctioning bodies, who had set Dec. 5 as the deadline for Katie to decide which weight division she wanted to continue fight in, has now given her 15 more days to decide.
