Katie Taylor Croke Park
Dublin got the night it had been waiting years for.
Katie Taylor walked into Croke Park on Saturday evening as Ireland’s boxing icon and left it as a three-time undisputed world champion — gloves left in the ring, career closed at the top, and the capital roaring her home one last time.
Against France’s previously unbeaten Flora Pili, Taylor won a clear unanimous decision. The cards read 100-90, 100-90 and 98-91. Ten rounds. One last masterclass. No argument left for the judges to settle.
Victory also brought the vacant WBC super-lightweight title into Taylor’s corner alongside her WBA, IBF and WBO belts — completing the set and confirming undisputed status for a third time.
Croke Park, finally
This was never only about belts.
For Bray’s greatest fighter, a night under the lights at Ireland’s most famous stadium had sat on the career bucket list for years. On Saturday it arrived — Westlife on the bill in the build-up, a packed house, and a walk to the ring that felt like a state occasion for Irish sport.
Around 80,000 people filled Croke Park for a boxing farewell that belonged as much to Dublin as it did to Taylor. The GAA cathedral became a boxing cathedral for one night, and the city showed up.
Pili came to spoil the party. She kept coming forward. Taylor kept answering with the jab, the feet, the combinations — the same habits that carried her from Olympic gold in London 2012 through Madison Square Garden nights and the Amanda Serrano wars that dragged women’s boxing onto the biggest stages in the sport.
How it ends
When the final bell went, the ending was already written.
Taylor confirmed her retirement and left her gloves in the ring — a quiet, deliberate full stop after a professional career that finishes 26-1, with that lone defeat to Chantelle Cameron long since avenged.
There will be debates for years about where she sits among Ireland’s greatest athletes. Olympic champion. Multi-weight world champion. Pioneer. Three-time undisputed. Winner at Croke Park.
On Saturday night in Dublin, the debate could wait. The picture that mattered was simpler: Katie Taylor, still a champion, standing in the middle of Croke Park with the city celebrating her.
Dublin and Belfast both covered the night:
Collab — @love__dublin × @Love_belfast
Follow @love__dublin
Follow @Love_belfast
Love Belfast’s full fight wrap is here, and their preview of the farewell night is here.
Dublin will not forget this one in a hurry.
Thank you, Katie.
