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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Robert Hynes

New York's Irish community out in force to support Katie Taylor against Amanda Serrano

The Irish community in New York are rallying behind Katie Taylor ahead of her massive showdown with Amanda Serrano this weekend.

The Bray fighter puts her lightweight belts - and her undefeated status - on the line against the Puerto Rican in one of the biggest boxing fights of all time.

Thousands of Irish fans are expected to travel over to New York for the bout, which is the first ever female fight to headline an event at the historic Madison Square Garden.

But thousands more from the Irish community already in the Big Apple will also be cheering for Taylor against Serrano, who has won nine world titles across seven different weight divisions.

Longford native Enda Keenan, who owns the Legends Bar, which is located across the road from the Empire State Building said: "It's crazy. I've never seen such a big build-up to a fight. She's going from seven in the morning until late at night each day. Both of them are doing interviews and getting pictures taken.

"On Tuesday they were over at the Empire State Building and they're lighting it in Irish and Puerto Rican flag colours for the fight. It's just great"

The popular sports bar is selling tickets for the fight and will also host Taylor's post-fight party following Saturday's event.

Enda added: "We've done a lot of stuff for the fight and have a lot of plans. We would have done a lot of stuff with John Duddy when he was massive here but this is a step above any of the fights. It's just getting more attention from the media and everything. It's crazy.

"It's the way she presents herself. She's a good person. That's the bottom line. She deserves everything she's getting. She's a class act.

"We're selling tickets here for the fight, as well as at Madison Square Garden, we've a direct link through them.

"I was over at the workouts on Wednesday and the amount of people looking for tickets was incredible so I'm trying to get extra tickets off the Garden and it's great to see.

"My phone hasn't stopped hopping with calls and messages the past few days because we're hosting the after party here. It's going to be a special weekend."

Dubliner Jonathan Kennedy co-owns The Long Hall and Westbury pubs in New York, which have welcomed the likes of Shane Lowry, Gordon Elliott and Davy Russell in recent years, and they are also gearing up for a busy few days.

He explained: "We have a lot of bookings for both pubs from Friday night on.

"Us Irish, we sort of look for any excuse to come out, don't we? But it's great to have Katie Taylor fighting in the Garden.

"It's amazing when you think about it for her to be headlining a card at Madison Square Garden, a girl from Wicklow. It's incredible.

"There should be a good buzz around. Bookings wise we've had 40 or 50 people from a company that are in Dublin but also based in New York, there's 20 coming down from Toronto that booked in with us on Saturday as well. They want to watch the Monaghan v Down game first.

"Whenever anything Irish happens in New York, it's a great excuse for people to come over and visit.

"Sligo played here a few weeks ago so that was another great excuse for people to come out and see their family.

"When Mayo play New York it's mental the amount of people who travel over from Mayo, but you also have the diaspora of people who live in America that will travel to New York."

Irish fans will be hoping to have plenty to cheer for after Saturday's fight and Taylor is confident that will take her professional record to 21-0.

She said yesterday: "Of course, I’m expecting the decision on Saturday night.

"I don’t go into any fight expecting to lose. I train to win and I’m expecting to come out victorious, and if anything didn’t go my way, that would be a very disappointing night.

"I’m aware of the challenge ahead of me and I’m prepared for a tough challenge. She’s a great fighter and a great champion. These are the sort of challenges I love in the sport.

"These are the fights you dream of as a kid, it’s champion v champion. Headlining Madison Square Garden, this is exactly where I want to be."

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