Katie Taylor determined to fight homecoming final at Croke Park

Bray native Katie Taylor names her dream fight as a homecoming at Croke Park before the end of her boxing career. Despite being a professional fighter for six years, she has never fought in her home country.

The 36-year-old Olympic Gold medalist is on an amazing streak of 22 undefeated fights. Taylor defeated Puerto Rican Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden in New York City last April. They were the first women to headline a fight at MSG, with a sold out audience and 1.5 million viewers. Taylor called this "a night to stir the soul" on Twitter.

A night to stir the soul! Humbled by all the support at @TheGarden. A special fight on a special night. 💚 pic.twitter.com/gigYeP7Qbr

— Katie Taylor (@KatieTaylor) May 1, 2022

"The only thing that can actually top what happened at Madison Square Garden would be a big homecoming final at Croke Park, 80,000 people," Taylor said "the stuff of dreams" would be to rematch Serrano at the Dublin arena.

The future of Irish boxing is bright, especially that of women. Last week, Ireland topped the medal table at the amateur EUBC European Women's Boxing Championships in Montenegro. Kellie Harrington, Amy Broadhurst and Aoife O'Rourke earned gold medals while Christina Desmond and Caitlin Fryers took silver medals. The team was welcomed back to Dublin with huge cheers at the airport for their major success and record breaking wins.

Lots of smiles at Dublin Airport this evening as Ireland's history-making female boxers returned from a hugely successful Elite European Women’s Boxing Championships. 🥊 🇮🇪 https://t.co/pLfZ2T8pk2

— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) October 23, 2022

Taylor hopes to inspire a future generation of female fighters. She said, "We have a very, very strong Irish team at the moment. The most important part for me is having an impact and an influence on the next generation, because that's what it's all about. Some of the next generation of female fighters are going to grow up to be superstars in the sport and they won’t have had the obstacles we actually had, and that to me is very, very special."