Katie Taylor will say farewell to boxing with a major fight at Croke Park against unbeaten Flora Pili
Katie Taylor, one of the most important boxers of the modern era and a symbol of the rise of women's boxing onto the biggest sporting stages, is expected to conclude her professional career at Croke Park in Dublin on September 5, 2026. According to the official announcement by Matchroom Boxing, her opponent will be unbeaten Frenchwoman Flora Pili, and the event will be held by Matchroom, in cooperation with Aiken Promotions, Taylor's long-time manager Brian Peters, and Lidl Ireland as the title partner of the event. The bout has been announced as a fight for the undisputed world title in the super lightweight division, with Taylor's WBO, WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine belts, as well as the vacant WBC title, on the line. For the Irish boxing icon, it is also the fulfilment of a long-standing wish to perform at the national stadium in front of an audience that has followed her journey from her amateur days to the biggest professional nights.
A farewell carrying sporting and symbolic weight
Taylor's appearance at Croke Park has not been announced merely as another defence of her belts, but as the closing point of a career that changed the perception of women's boxing in Ireland, Great Britain and beyond. In its official announcement, Matchroom Boxing stated that Taylor will try at the event to once again become the undisputed champion in the super lightweight division and thereby end her career as a three-time undisputed world champion. She entered the professional ring in 2016, after an exceptional amateur career and Olympic gold in London in 2012, and her current professional record listed on Matchroom's website stands at 25 wins, one loss and six knockouts. During that period, she won belts in the lightweight and super lightweight divisions and took part in bouts that opened major arenas and new television platforms to women's boxing.
According to the organisers' announcement, Taylor will defend the WBO, WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine titles in Dublin, while at the same time fighting for the vacant WBC belt in the super lightweight division. This is important because a victory would return her to full undisputed status in the division up to 140 pounds, after the WBC title was left without an active champion. In its announcement on the status of the division, the World Boxing Council stated that Sandy Ryan had been placed in champion-in-recess status due to pregnancy, and that Katie Taylor, as emeritus champion, and Flora Pili, the top-ranked challenger, would fight for the vacant WBC title. That framework makes the fight bigger than a farewell appearance, because the result will decide the full hierarchy of one of the most important women's boxing divisions.
In the event announcement, Taylor said that Croke Park seems to her like the perfect place to end her career, while noting that she does not underestimate the challenge posed by Flora Pili. The organisers carried her statement that Pili is an unbeaten professional with good amateur experience and deserves respect. The tone of the announcement therefore remained twofold: on the one hand, it is an emotional return to Ireland, and on the other, a fight in which her opponent will have the opportunity to win the most important title of her career. Taylor also emphasised that, in her wish, the event should inspire a new generation to take up sport.
Flora Pili arrives as an unbeaten challenger
Flora Pili enters the bout as an undefeated professional boxer. Matchroom's official event page lists her record as 12-0, with two knockouts, which clearly shows that she is not an opponent coming merely as part of a farewell scenario. According to the WBC, Pili is the leading challenger in the division up to 140 pounds, and the organisers described her in the announcement as the French representative who will fight for the undisputed title. Her name may not be as globally recognisable as Taylor's, but the sporting stakes in Dublin give her the chance to change the order at the top of women's boxing with one bout.
In the announcement published by Croke Park, Pili said that facing Taylor is the biggest opportunity of her career. She stated that she considers Taylor one of the greatest champions in the history of women's boxing, but also that on September 5 she will enter the ring ready for the challenge and for her own attempt to win the undisputed title. For the French boxer, a fight at a stadium of such capacity and symbolism will be her biggest professional stage so far. At the same time, she will have to cope with the pressure of a crowd that will likely experience most of the evening as Taylor's farewell, although the sporting outcome remains completely open.
For Matchroom and the promoters involved, such a choice of opponent has a clear logic. Farewell fights of great champions are sometimes shaped as ceremonial events, but a fight for all relevant belts requires an opponent with the ranking and status that confirm the credibility of the title clash. Pili meets that condition with an unbeaten professional record and the position of challenger. That is precisely why the event in Dublin is being presented not only as the celebration of one career, but also as a serious test at the end of the road.
Croke Park reopens its doors to professional boxing
The historical dimension of the event is further emphasised by the choice of location. Croke Park, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, has, according to the stadium's official data, a capacity of 82,300 and is one of the largest sporting venues in Europe. The stadium has for decades been the central venue for Gaelic football and hurling, but in different periods it has also hosted other major sporting and cultural events. For Taylor's farewell, the fact that, according to the announcement by Croke Park and Matchroom, this will be the first professional boxing event at the stadium since 1972 is especially important.
That historical link leads back to Muhammad Ali's bout against Alvin "Blue" Lewis, held in Dublin on July 19, 1972. In its historical overview, Croke Park states that Ali then boxed against Lewis amid great public attention, and RTÉ Archives records that the event generated great interest ahead of the fight. The return of professional boxing to the same place after more than half a century gives Taylor's farewell additional weight, because her name is thereby placed in the rare line of boxing nights that have marked the stadium beyond its primary sporting identity.
Croke Park is much more than a neutral arena in Irish sport. The stadium is connected with national sports, major finals, historical events and collective sporting memory. For that reason, Taylor's long-standing wish to box there was not only a question of capacity, but also of recognition for the sport she helped bring into the public mainstream. Eddie Hearn, chairman of Matchroom Sport, stated in the official announcement that getting to Croke Park had been a process that lasted for years and that ending Taylor's journey there would be a fitting farewell to one of the most influential athletes of her generation.
Tickets, broadcast and organisational framework
According to the announcement by Matchroom Boxing and Croke Park, tickets for the event go on general sale on Friday, June 12, 2026, at 9 a.m. via Ticketmaster. The presale for Matchroom Boxing Fight Pass members began on June 10, while customers with the Lidl Plus app and residents of the area around Croke Park were announced as groups with special presale access. The organisers stated that prices for the Cusack, Davin and Hogan stands start from 38.70 euros, that a family package for four people in the alcohol-free zone costs 125.50 euros, and that ringside seat prices range from 106.25 to 1,505.50 euros. For visitors planning to come to Dublin, it is useful to check accommodation in Dublin for fight weekend in good time, especially because of the stadium capacity and the expected interest in the event.
The fight broadcast has been announced live on DAZN for a global audience. According to official information, details about the rest of the programme and the fights on the supporting part of the event will be announced later. Such a schedule leaves room for the organisers to build a broader boxing event around the main bout, but for now the focus of the announcement is clearly directed at Taylor, Pili and the undisputed title in the super lightweight division. In the commercial part of the event, Lidl Ireland stands out, having announced, in addition to the title partnership, a new three-year ambassador agreement with Taylor until 2029.
The organisational framework shows that this is not only a sporting farewell, but a major stadium production. Matchroom Boxing, Aiken Promotions, Brian Peters and Croke Park are involved, and the event relies on global availability via DAZN. Such a model reflects the change women's boxing has undergone during Taylor's career: from a sport that struggled to receive major slots to events that can fill arenas and stadiums. In that context, Croke Park on September 5 also becomes a test of the market strength of women's boxing on one of the largest possible European stages.
A career marked by turning points in women's boxing
Taylor's professional journey already had several historical points before the Croke Park announcement. After Olympic gold in London in 2012, which according to Olympic.com she won in the lightweight division, she became a professional and gradually assumed a leading role in the promotion of women's boxing. In November 2023, she defeated Chantelle Cameron in Dublin and, according to a report by Al Jazeera, avenged her only professional loss and became undisputed champion in two weight divisions. That victory was especially important because it came six months after a defeat to the same opponent, showing Taylor's ability to adapt and return at the highest level.
Her rivalry with Amanda Serrano further expanded the boundaries of women's professional boxing. The Guardian reported that in July 2025 Taylor defeated Serrano at Madison Square Garden by majority decision, thereby concluding their trilogy with three victories. That event was part of a historic night of women's boxing in New York, and Taylor and Serrano are often cited as athletes who, through their bouts, pushed the commercial and media boundaries of the discipline. In that continuity, Croke Park arrives as a logical, but also long-awaited, final stage.
That is precisely why the fight against Pili has a broader significance than the result itself. If Taylor wins, she will say farewell as a champion who, at her home stadium, once again unified all relevant belts in the super lightweight division. If Pili causes an upset, her victory would have the status of one of the greatest generational changes in women's boxing. Both possibilities give the bout the sporting uncertainty necessary for the event to rise above a ceremonial character.
A big night for Dublin and the boxing end of an era
On September 5, 2026, Dublin will host an event that brings together the end of a career, the return of boxing to a stadium with a great history, and a fight for the highest possible status in the super lightweight division. According to available official information, Taylor does not plan to continue her professional career after that bout, which makes Croke Park the final chapter of her sporting journey. At the same time, the fact that she is facing an unbeaten challenger confirms that the farewell will not be free of risk. In boxing, it is precisely such risk that gives weight to a legacy, because a final appearance can confirm dominance, but also open space for a new champion.
For Croke Park, the return of professional boxing after 1972 means a new page in the stadium's history. For the organisers, it is an event that should show that women's boxing can carry a stadium spectacle of the highest level. For Taylor, according to her words from the announcement, it is an opportunity to thank the audience that has followed her throughout her career and to perform one last time at the place she long considered the ideal finale. The final answer will be given by the ring, but the announcement alone already shows that the fight between Katie Taylor and Flora Pili will be one of the most important boxing events of 2026.
Sources:
- Matchroom Boxing – official announcement of the Katie Taylor vs Flora Pili fight at Croke Park, data on titles, organisers, statements and tickets (link)
- Matchroom Boxing – official Taylor vs Pili event page with the date, the boxers' records and ticket sale information (link)
- Croke Park – official event announcement and confirmation of the return of professional boxing to the stadium after 1972 (link)
- Croke Park – official data on the stadium, capacity and Croke Park's role as the headquarters of the GAA (link)
- World Boxing Council – status of the WBC title in the women's super lightweight division and order for the Taylor vs Pili fight for the vacant belt (link)
- Olympic.com – Katie Taylor profile and confirmation of Olympic gold in London in 2012 (link)
- Al Jazeera – report on Taylor's victory over Chantelle Cameron in 2023 and winning undisputed champion status in two divisions (link)
- The Guardian – report on Taylor's third fight against Amanda Serrano in 2025 and the defence of the undisputed title at Madison Square Garden (link)
- RTÉ Archives – archival context of the fight between Muhammad Ali and Alvin "Blue" Lewis at Croke Park in 1972 (link)