Boxing queen Katie Taylor’s chances of defending her world title in Croke Park in October has received a massive boost after both stadium bosses and local residents gave the idea the thumbs up.
As the Irish Mirror revealed on Monday, Katie dreams of treating fans to a knockout performance on home soil and said after the weekend’s historic win in New York: “We could sell out Croke Park. Imagine fighting in front of 80,000 people at Croke Park. Absolutely that can happen.”
However, concerns were expressed immediately because the GAA’s famous stadium has a three-gig annual limit as it is in a densely populated residential area where households fear they are disproportionately affected by events at Croker throughout the year.
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But Croke Park stadium bosses and a high-profile residents’ association spokesperson said objections could be removed to give the “national hero” a “special one-off event”.
Croke Park stadium manager Peter McKenna said: “There is huge interest in a Katie Taylor boxing match in Dublin, especially in Croke Park.
“The stadium would be available at that time of year [in October]. It would be fantastic for the economy and the area.”
Pat Gates of the Croke Park Area Residents’ Alliance warned Croke Park knows “they have gone over the acceptable number of events per annum” - but he believes a Katie Taylor fight would be a “special one-off event” for a “national hero” so he would personally approve of it.
He said: “I would be delighted to see Katie fight at Croke Park, as it would be a special one-off event.
“No sure what the planning issues may be for Croke Park, as they know they have gone over the acceptable number of events per annum.
“But, personally, I would see Katie’s fight as a special one-off event for a national hero and amazing woman.
“That makes it very different from five concerts over two weekends [like country music star Garth Brooks in September].
“I have not discussed this with my residents’ association, but we will meet to get people’s views.”
The giant 82,000-capacity stadium has already staged two concerts by pop star Ed Sheeran and Garth Brooks is due to hold five more in September.
Dublin City Council controversially voted in favour of granting permission for the five Brooks gigs on top of the two Sheeran concerts.
And it now looks like the likelihood of 2012 Olympic champion Katie fighting in Croke Park – just like Muhammad Ali in 1972 – has been given a major boost by administrators inside GAA headquarters and residents outside the stadium.
Boxing promoters believe the fight would be a gripping rematch between Katie and Puerto Rican scrapper Amanda Serrano.
The pair’s titanic tussle in New York saw world champ Katie, from Bray in Co Wicklow, eventually win the toughest fight of her life.
It was the first ever headline bout by two women at Madison Square Garden and was billed as the biggest ever fight in women’s boxing history.
Analysts say a revenge clash in Croker would be the first time in the history of boxing that two female fighters would top the bill in a stadium fight.
Katie is still recovering from the weekend victory, but her manager Brian Peters and her promoter Eddie Hearn are believed to be actively encouraging the possibility of a rematch later this year.
Eddie said: “It would be a big shame if Katie didn’t get to fight in Ireland in her career.”
Katie’s Olympic gold was won in London 10 years ago and all 21 wins of her professional fights have been abroad in the six years since she turned pro in 2016.
Producers say that broadcasting the match to a worldwide audience, especially to boxing fans in America, will be a key issue for streaming network DAZN.
A majority of its subscribers are in the US, meaning a Dublin fight time of 11pm would see the match broadcast at 6pm in New York and 3pm in LA.
Katie’s fans in Ireland would hope that her homecoming fight would be screened live by free-to-air domestic broadcasters RTE or Virgin Media.
Two former Dublin Lord Mayors, Cllrs Christy Burke and Niall Ring, have vowed to table a motion before the Council at next week’s Central Area Committee meeting for an emergency motion to grant a licence for the bout.
Cllr Burke said: “The conversation about a rematch being held in Croke Park needs to be started instead of waiting for the last minute. It is only right that such a fight is held at Croke Park as Katie is a national hero.”
Cllr Ring said: “If we can’t have this type of boxing match at Croke Park, then where can we have it? The number [of events] allowed on a yearly basis needs to be altered upwards.”
Three concerts is the maximum number allowed under planning permission previously granted by An Bord Pleanala.
Croke Park area residents are due to meet to discuss any possible concerns about another sell-out fixture at the stadium, just weeks after Brooks is due to end his record-breaking series of five concerts
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