Boxing's golden girl Katie Taylor wants to fight against Amanda Serrano at Croke Park. The Irish fighter took her professional record to 21-0 at a sold out Madison Square Garden in the early hours of Sunday morning.
She overcame Puerto Rican Serrano in the toughest bout of her professional career. Taylor, 35, looked to be in huge trouble in the fifth round when she couldn't get out of the corner as Serrano battered her.
Taylor, who was until that point controlling the fight, came back into the match and took the later rounds to have her arm raised in victory. And now she wants to do it all again, but is desperate for the bout to take place on Irish soil.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, she said: "We all want to see the best vs the best. Yeah, absolutely, a rematch would be absolutely phenomenal. If it was in Dublin, we could sell out Croke Park, if you think the atmosphere was special here tonight, imagine the rematch in front of 80,000 people in Croke Park. Absolutely amazing."
Her promoter Eddie Hearn is also keen to make a Dublin fight happen after he was blown away by the atmosphere created by Irish fans at MSG. He said: "That felt like Croke Park there tonight, it was absolutely incredible. I am not sure we will get as many travelling Puerto Ricans but it has always been on our minds and it would feel a big shame if she didn’t get to fight in Ireland during her career. If we could do that, back-end of the summer.
"It was a tough fight, she is going to need some rest. Not too much rest knowing Katie, but it is certainly in the mind of us all."
The 2012 Olympic champion has never fought in Ireland as a professional and time is running out for it to happen. No major professional boxing event has taken place in Dublin since David Byrne was shot dead at a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in 2016 when Daniel Kinahan was believed to be the main target.
US sanctions recently imposed on the mob boss have seen senior boxing figures distance themselves from him and Kinahan's exclusion from the sport could help a Dublin for Taylor to finally come to fruition. And it would also be a fitting year for a fight to happen in the capital as this July marks 50 years since the great Muhammad Ali fought Al "Blue" Lewis at GAA headquarters.
Meanwhile, Irish fans turned New York into a sea of green for the fight as they took over the city. Some 5,000 tickets for the fight were purchased by people living in Ireland, while thousands more Irish fans travelled from all around America, Canada and further afield to the Mecca of boxing.
The arena was slow to fill up, especially with supporters of Taylor, which was no surprise given there was no Irish fighter on the undercard. But the atmosphere was electric by the time Taylor and Serrano made their way to the ring at just after 10pm local time and the event was a sell out with 19,187 fans in attendance.
And the undisputed lightweight champion was quick to thank her supporters after the bout, saying: " I just want to thank all the Irish fans who travelled over. The support was unbelievable.
"I think every fight I've had the support has been incredible but tonight was very, very special both for myself and Amanda. We represent our nations very proudly. Just seeing so many Irish flags was so incredible."
