Taylor's place among greats set in stone after extraordinary swansong

Taylor’s place among greats set in stone after extraordinary swansong By David Mohan BBC Sport NI writer at Croke Park "There's thing similar an Irish family." Katie Taylor addressed the Croke Park crowd as she paid tribute to her mother Bridget, but her extended household of 83,000 inside Croke Park and many more tuning in will have known this was for them too. Fairytale endings in boxing are rare, yet Taylor is no ordinary combatant and her swansong proved as brilliant as the athlete and the person. After 30 years lacing up the gloves, Taylor, 40, sails into the sunset after the most immaculate of farewells before 83,000 adoring fans at Dublin’s iconic Croke Park, just three miles from the site of her first official bout 25 years earlier. The final act in the ring was to sweep past Flora Pili to cement her legacy in Ireland and beyond, bowing out as a three‑time and two‑weight undisputed champion. It was a night of celebration, cheers and plenty of tears as fans and peers turned out for her triumph lap, showing emotion and appreciation for a career that thrilled and inspired in equal measure. "It was everything I expected and more," Taylor said at her last post‑fight press conference. "Thankfully I was capable to clasp my emotions unneurotic contiguous as I was getting affectional each week and the past fewer months' mentation was truthful emotional." "The ambiance was truthful special. I was beyond my wildest dreams - what a peculiar night." Before her hand could be raised in the ring, there were battles to be won outside of it. Born in 1986 as the youngest of four children to former Irish champion father Peter and mother Bridget—one of Ireland’s first female officials—the very notion of women’s boxing in Ireland seemed fanciful. While older brothers Lee and Peter were welcomed into the boxing fold, Katie became K from Bray—a girl hiding her identity simply to compete in an exclusively male environment. The fighting tone and determination that characterises her sporting prowess is as much a trait of her personality, and in 2001, as a 15‑year‑old she took part in the first sanctioned women’s bout in Ireland since it was outlawed following earlier world champion Deirdre Gogarty’s 1991 debut in Limerick. Perhaps fitting, as five years earlier, Taylor wrote to relation exemplary Gogarty, expressing vexation at the deficiency of opportunities to vie and outlining her dreams of one time being allowed to vie at the Olympic Games. Prophetic words, as it was her exceptional talent on display before International Olympic Committee members in 2007 that convinced them to add women’s boxing to the programme for London 2012. All eyes were on her as Katie mania grew throughout the Games—her victory over Sofya Ochigava in the lightweight final a moment of national sporting joy comparable to the heady days of Jack Charlton’s Republic of Ireland teams at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups—the Excel arena transformed into a tiny Ireland on an unforgettable day. A recognised star in Irish boxing circles became a household name, her humble and gracious manner winning the hearts of a nation that has remained firmly in her corner. "The 'ole ole oles' carried maine each implicit the world: to Leeds, to Manchester, Brooklyn, Boston, Dallas, Manhattan," she reflected. "This nighttime is truthful peculiar due to the fact that I wanted to enactment connected a show for them. I don't deliberation it was a career-best performance, but I got the triumph for them, conscionable to accidental 'thank you'." Her star did not dim despite a disappointing Rio Games in 2016, and although Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn took convincing to take a punt on her as a professional, the faith has been repaid in spades. Within three years Taylor was undisputed champion at lightweight, rising from undercard to centre stage as she fulfilled her commitment to do for women’s professional boxing what she had achieved as an amateur, each to a chorus of the aforementioned 'ole ole oles' from the entourage that followed her every move. A seminal night in 2022 saw her decision Amanda Serrano at a sold‑out Madison Square Garden in a fight‑of‑the‑year contender—the first time a women’s bout had headlined the famed arena, a major turning point for the women’s code. They would trade leather a further two times after Taylor had avenged her sole professional‑career decision by Chantelle Cameron to become a two‑weight champion. Perhaps that was the perfect way to sign off, but the Croke Park itch had to be scratched and although those gates seemed destined to stay locked, Taylor’s presence made it happen. Could she fill such an immense stadium? Of course. Perhaps the doubters did not grasp the reverence in which the softly spoken yet inspirational woman from Bray is held. While her trophy cabinet overflows with gold medals and world title belts, perhaps her greatest legacy is leaving women’s boxing in a vastly better place than she found it—that Serrano trilogy lifting women’s boxing to new heights. Taylor broke down barriers with a grace that belied the obstacles she faced, yet her quiet determination and humble manner will serve as an illustration of what can be achieved by belief, hard work and a refusal to accept her lot as young girls can now walk the path she laid. Fierce inside the ring yet unassuming outside of it—even factoring in an impulse‑buy speedboat, since sold—superlatives such as trailblazer, icon and Ireland’s top sportsperson are not hyperbolic, for Taylor’s standing as a legend is in no way clichéd. She has indicated she will remain in the sport, but for now there is time to savour an brilliant career, with her standing among boxing’s greats set in stone. Irish boxing is going to be a lesser place. "I'm retired present truthful I tin devour what I want, but I'm conscionable going to bask a bully solemnisation and look backmost connected a imagination ending to a imagination career." "My communicative is the communicative of everyone successful this room: we each person our ups and downs. I deliberation radical resonate with your vulnerabilities and your successes - saw maine header with the heartbreak of Rio, the Chantelle Cameron nonaccomplishment and idiosyncratic difficulties." "My communicative is the communicative of everyone successful this room."