Katie Taylor to Face Flora Pili for WBC Title at Croke Park, Costing Nearly 3x More Than Wembley

Katie Taylor will face unbeaten French fighter Flora Pili for the vacant WBC light-welterweight title at Dublin's Croke Park, with the date to be announced at a press conference on Friday. Matchroom confirmed the 14:00 BST news conference at the Gaelic Athletic Association headquarters. The World Boxing Council stated earlier this week that Taylor and Pili will contest the vacant belt.

Taylor, 39, has not boxed since completing a clean sweep of her trilogy against Amanda Serrano at New York's Madison Square Garden last July, where she retained her undisputed light-welterweight title. The two-weight world undisputed champion indicated after that victory that she would return for a farewell bout.

Croke Park has topped Taylor's wishlist since the idea was first floated after her initial win over Serrano in April 2022.

The venue has not hosted a boxing event since Muhammad Ali defeated Al 'Blue' Lewis there in July 1972. Earlier plans for a Croke Park show stalled when stadium chief executive Peter McKenna said Matchroom would not cover security costs. Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn stated that the cost of hire and everything involved with the event is nearly three times more than staging it at Wembley Stadium.

Taylor fought Karen Carabajal in London after those discussions and held her homecoming at Dublin's 3 Arena. She suffered her only professional loss against Chantelle Cameron in her first fight on Irish soil at that venue in May 2023 before avenging the defeat there later the same year. Taylor told Matchroom Boxing's Flash Knockdown Podcast that Croke Park remained her priority.

"The one fight I really, really want is at Croke Park," she said. "That would top off my career so well. " In April, McKenna suggested Taylor could appear on a card alongside Tyson Fury. Hearn rejected that idea, insisting that if a fight takes place at Croke Park it should feature Taylor alone.

Hearn had previously proposed 5 September as a possible date.