Right then, the date that has been hanging over Irish boxing for two months is finally locked. Eddie Hearn has gone on Sky Sports News and confirmed that Katie Taylor's farewell night will take place at Croke Park on the first weekend of September. There is no exact date attached to the announcement yet, but Hearn has been clear — first weekend, the GAA permitting, and a heavily Irish-flavoured undercard top to bottom.
Why First Weekend September Is The Right Slot
This is exactly the slot you want for a goodbye fight in Ireland. Football championship season is winding down, the GAA calendar gives you breathing room at Croke Park, and the weather should hold. Hearn's instinct on this has been right all along — make it a Saturday at Croke Park, fill the stadium, get the rain off the radar, and give Ireland a night that will live in folklore. Taylor is the only fighter in the modern era who could fill 80,000 in Dublin on a sentimental ticket alone, and Hearn knows it.
Croke Park has been quietly getting itself ready for boxing for years. The Conor Benn-Chris Eubank Jr fight scenarios floated towards it. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua flirted with it. None of them ever happened. Taylor at Croke Park is the night that finally lands the venue on the boxing map, and it is hard to think of a more deserving fighter to do it.
Hearn's Promise — Strong Irish Undercard
The line that mattered most from Hearn in the Sky interview was the undercard pledge. Quote: everyone fighting on that undercard will either be Irish or have a very strong Irish connection. That is the right call. You do not stick a Vegas swing-bout on this card. You build the entire night around Taylor's legacy and around Irish fighters with something to prove on the biggest stage in the country.
The names that fit the brief write themselves. Pierce O'Leary is a Queensberry man but with a fighter and promotion swap of this size, an Irish co-main feels like it has to be on the table. Anthony Cacace at his best at IBF level. Lewis Crocker if Hearn can get the Belfast pull. There is no shortage of options, but Hearn has earned the benefit of the doubt on putting an entire Irish night together — he has done it before.
Who Does Taylor Walk Out Against?
That is the open question. The trilogy with Amanda Serrano is the obvious one. They have produced the two biggest fights in women's boxing history. The third one, in Dublin, would be a fitting bookend even if Serrano has talked openly about not wanting another rematch. The other plausible name is Chantelle Cameron, the Northampton fighter who handed Taylor her only professional defeat back in 2023 before Taylor avenged it later that year. A trilogy with Cameron at Croke Park would also make sense.
The least exciting outcome would be a tune-up against a soft opponent. Taylor does not need a tune-up. She has not lost a fight since the first Cameron and her form against the second Cameron and the late-career performances has been outstanding for a fighter pushing 40. She wants the right name. Hearn knows he has to deliver it.
Luke's Take
Make no mistake — this is the right end for the most influential female fighter the sport has ever produced. Taylor has carried women's boxing on her shoulders since before any of the broadcasters cared about it, and a sold-out Croke Park is exactly the goodbye she has earned. The Irish flavour on the undercard is the right call. The first weekend of September is the right slot. The opponent is the only thing left to confirm — and frankly, whoever Hearn lands, the night sells. If it's the Serrano trilogy, you are looking at the biggest single-fight gate in women's boxing history. Brilliant booking from the boss. Right call all round.