Eddie Hearn insists his focus is "a million per cent" on giving Katie Taylor her dream Croke Park fight in 2023, but says he needs the Irish government's support to make it happen.
The Matchroom boss is hopeful Taylor can finally fight on Irish soil for the first time as a professional in either April or May of next year and says he has to deliver the event for the undisputed lightweight champion, who recently took her record to 22-0 with victory over Argentina's Karen Elizabeth Carabajal.
But the promoter says he needs support from the Irish government, as well as the GAA, stating that it is "very expensive" to put on an event at the famous Dublin venue.
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He told IFL TV: “Our focus is a million percent on going to Croke Park, we do need their support and we need the Irish government’s support as well. Not in terms of allowing it to happen but this is a very expensive operation to go into Croke Park and put a fight on.
"But we have other opportunities in Ireland with different stadiums, for me, Croke Park is the one, it’s historic, we can go to the rugby stadium [Aviva], we can go to other places.
"But for me, even as a promoter and I know how Katie feels, this [Croke Park] is where it should happen but we need (help). There have been a lot of conversations really going back for the last year. It’s an expensive place, very expensive, and we believe we fill it but we’ve got to make it right numbers-wise for Katie, for Amanda [Serrano], and hopefully, we’ll be there.”
Serrano is top of both Hearn and Taylor's list of potential opponents for Croke Park after the pair battled it out in a fight of the year contender at Madison Square Garden earlier this year, which the Bray Bomber won via split decision.
But Chantelle Cameron is now another option for Taylor after she became the undisputed super lightweight champion last weekend with a unanimous decision victory over Jessica McCaskill. A bout with Cameron could see Taylor move up to 140lbs to try and become a two-weight undisputed champion.
Hearn explained: "The focus for us is on Amanda Serrano. We developed that tournament really to give Chantelle an opportunity to become undisputed and the reason we did that is to set up the Katie Taylor fight and give Chantelle the profile that she now has.
"So there are massive nights out there for Chantelle Cameron, she owns every belt out there in the 140lb division and a fight between Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron is two undisputed, 135 and 140. I will say obviously our focus is on Amanda Serrano."
Hearn also revealed that he has sent Taylor's manager Brian Peters a list of fights that he believes could take place on the Croke Park undercard.
These include Kildare's Gary Cully against three-weight world champion Jorge Linares, Cork native Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan facing either Kildare-born, Australian-based, fighter Dennis Hogan or Belfast's Caoimhín Agyarko, Luke Keeler v Jason Quigley and maybe Dublin heavyweight Thomas Carthy taking on England's Johnny Fisher.
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