3 days agoWell folks, that’s all for tonight’s coverage of Katie Taylor’s final fight from Croke Park, and thankfully it was a big win for the Irish legend. She outboxed and outfought France’s Flora Pili to a wide unanimous decision victory in front of over 80,000 people, marking a successful end to one of Ireland’s greatest sporting stories. Taylor only suffered one defeat in the pros, which she avenged months later and won undisputed world titles at two weights, fighting in some absolute thrillers along the way. As an amateur she brought women’s boxing to the Olympics, then won the gold medal, to go alongside her World and European titles. Taylor retires with a strong claim to being the greatest women’s boxer ever, the greatest Irish boxer ever, and even the greatest Irish athlete ever.Thanks so much for joining us for this historic night at Croke Park. Here is Malachy Clerkin’s fight report. Goodnight and safe home to all who were in Croker tonight.3 days agoA superb montage from RTÉ to cap off an amazing night for Katie Taylor at Croke Park.3 days agoAnyone who’s stayed up late for other Katie fights over the years will know that this was one of the easier nights to be a fan. Compared to the Amanda Serrano, Delfine Persoon and Chantelle Cameron fights there was a lot less heart-stopping moments tonight. Still, those wins would rate as some of the best in the history of the sport, and tonight definitely ranks alongside them in terms of defining moments in Katie Taylor’s career.3 days agoKatie Taylor spoke to RTÉ in the ring after the fight and told them that this was the perfect way to end a 30-year career in boxing.“I dreamed of this moment for years, it’s been absolutely remarkable. I’m looking around here at the stadium and seeing the 80,000 people here screaming my name; this is beyond my wildest dreams and I’m just so grateful. What a way to end this career. The people of Ireland gave me a dream ending to a dream career.”3 days agoThere was so much going on in that final interview, but this is one big moment from it. The usually suave and cocky Eddie Hearn nearly melts completely, as he says farewell to one of the greatest fighters he has ever promoted.3 days agoKatie Taylor leaves her gloves down in the centre of the ring to mark her career finale, as her team surround them with her many, many titles. What a night for boxing in Ireland.3 days agoKatie is having her moment, dictating her final career interview herself now, and taking the moment to appreciate everyone who played a part in her rise to stardom. 3 days agoKatie Taylor wins the undisputed light welterweight title by wide unanimous decision victory.3 days agoRound 10: Katie Taylor’s coach, Ross Enamait tells her to go out and enjoy this final round, the final round of a historic career. Taylor tears into the fight against, sitting down on her punches and throwing flurries of hooks and straights at her opponent. Super right straight to the body from Taylor again. The crowd chant ‘olé’ and it looks like a brilliant end to a fantastic career tonight. One final flurry, and Taylor goes out swinging as she always did.3 days agoRound 9: A bit of a quiet, tactical round, which suits Taylor perfectly now. Pili seems to have lost that impetus she had in round seven, but this was a fairly even round.3 days agoRound 8: Pili is really trying to push on now, getting in close and trying to land at close range. Suddenly, Taylor steps on the gas again and lands a great combination. Taylor lands two perfect straight right hands now, stopping Pili’s momentum. That round showed a lot of Taylor’s old-school amateur boxing skills.3 days agoRound 7: Taylor comes in with a combination, but Pili finally rallies back with her first big combination, knocking Taylor back for a second. There’s a little bit of bounce sapped out of Katie now and it’s been by far the best round for Pili. 3 days agoRound 6: Another great straight right by Katie Taylor, and then a combination knocks Pili backwards; the best punches of the fight so far. Pili is pushing in, trying to force some success, but it’s giving Taylor opportunities to land cleaner shots. Great round for the home fighter.3 days agoRound 5: Pili’s corner are urging her to open up a little more, but the round begins with Taylor landing some quick punches, and making the French fighter miss with brilliant head movement. Somehow the 40-year-old has all the speed in the ring. Taylor ends the round with a signature left hook that cracks Pili on the side of the head and she pivots out of danger.3 days agoRound 4: Taylor opens up with some quick flurries early in round four, although most of the punches hit the guard. However, when Pili opens up a little, Taylor is landing in spots. The straight right lands clean once on Pili, and the speed difference is very evident. Not many clean punches again, but Pili’s activity is so low so far.3 days agoRound 3: Pili is starting to come forward a little more now, trying to hold the centre of the ring. Most of Taylor’s punches this round have been half-blocked by Pili, and the French boxer lands one clean left, but there’s not much activity from the away fighter.3 days agoRound 2: A super combination from Taylor early on, as she gets inside and lets three left hooks go, finishing on a right hook. Great work. Pili is more well known as a front foot fighter, but so far she’s drawing Taylor in. Even if it’s unsettled Katie a little, it isn’t really winning the early rounds.3 days agoRound 1: A tentative start from both, as Taylor gets on the front foot early. It’s the home fighter who lands the first real blow of the fight, sizing up her opponent early on. A nice opener for Katie Taylor.3 days agoAs always, announcer David Diamante has an exhausting list of accomplishments to get through on Katie Taylor’s CV. That alone would give any opponent the shivers you would think.3 days agoAn emotional ringwalk for Katie Taylor, who seems to be soaking in the atmosphere. Croke Park looks absolutely spectacular as fireworks and light shows go off for the Irish boxer.3 days agoWestlife is done, Grace and the national anthem have been sung, and now the challenger, Flora Pili, has made her way into the ring for the biggest fight of her career. She is 12-0 so far in her career, although this will be a far bigger test than anything she has faced yet.3 days agoWell folks, here it is, the main event of the evening; Westlife! Those white suits are blinding, but it seems to be going down a treat so far anyway.3 days agoBack to regular programming after that bizarre co-main event. Ronan McGreevy has been on the ground ahead of Katie Taylor’s final fight, soaking up the atmosphere and the thoughts of the fans around Croke Park.[‘We’ll never get a woman like Katie Taylor again’: Fans look forward to Croke Park clash]3 days agoMy advice to Westlife tonight; don’t lean on the ropes lads!3 days agoNo contest announced as the verdict of Thomas Carty v Dave Allen. Malachy Clerkin reports from Croke Park: “The crowd don’t really know who to boo here – Allen for punching Carty in the back of the head or Carty for flailing full length out of the ring. Either way, Carty is getting oxygen and isn’t coming back. He’s walking down the tunnel here below us in the Hogan Stand. That was supposed to be the second biggest fight of the night and it’s over after one minute and 22 seconds. The fight is declared a No Contest. The crowd boo lustily and we get on with our night.”3 days agoIf Thomas Carty thought he’d suffered a freak injury the last time then he didn’t know what was in store at all today. The replay clearly shows that Allen hit Carty on the back of the head right before the Dub flew out of the ring. The crowd boo loudly at that angle. This will either be a disqualification or a no-contest. What a shame for Carty though, the biggest night of his career by miles.3 days agoAllen hit Carty with a couple of rabbit punches, but hardly enough to send the big Dublin man down. He fell like a sack of spuds there and that will surely be the end of the fight, as he hasn’t got back up. Thomas Carty puts his hands on his head after falling out of the ring in his co-main event against Dave Allen at Croke Park. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images 3 days agoRound 1: What has gone on there? Thomas Carty let off a nice combination and Allen leaned on the ropes, and when Carty followed in he tumbled through the very slack-looking ropes and right down on to ringside. I’ve never seen anything like that.Dave Allen watches as Thomas Carty exits the ring through the ropes and their bout is declared a no contest on the undercard. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times 3 days ago“No Carty, no party”, and the Dublin crowd respond to the home fighter. Carty has a record of 11-1, having sustained a freak knee injury in his only loss. Meanwhile, Dave Allen has been there and done it a lot more often, with a record of 27-9-2. His belly is protruding a lot more than it was at his best, but he’s still dangerous.3 days agoThe co-main event is about to get under way at Croke Park, as Thomas Carty faces Dave Allen in a 10-round heavyweight clash.3 days agoAnd for anyone wondering if we might be flying through these undercard fights a little too quickly, don’t forget that there’ll be a special performance by Westlife on the way tonight. 3 days agoNext up is a heavyweight fight between Phibsboro’s Thomas Carty and English fan favourite Dave Allen. Allen weighed in at nearly 280lbs yesterday, and has admitted to not quite being the most professional boxer ever in the build-up to this one. Gordon Manning reports on the back and forth between these two at the press conference earlier this week.[Before Katie Taylor’s farewell, the undercard fighters get their night at Croke Park]3 days agoRound 4: It’s all over, as the doctor waves it off for a terrible cut on Tyrone McKenna’s eye that was spraying blood all over the ringside tables. That is probably Paddy Donovan’s best performance of his career, looking really patient, controlled and razor-sharp. Paddy Donovan def. Tyrone McKenna by fifth round stoppage.3 days agoRound 3: Donovan’s trainer, former middleweight champ Andy Lee, tells him in the corner that he’s looking “sensational”, and he’s not wrong. His head movement looks particularly good in the third, slipping punch after punch. He’s winning this with his lead right hand alone right now.3 days agoLimerick’s former world title challenger Paddy Donovan is now boxing Belfast’s Tyrone McKenna, who is probably a few years past his prime. So far McKenna has been down in round two, but survived to reach the third. 3 days agoEmmet Brennan is making his own way out of the ring now as the final result is read out. An incredibly brave performance from the Dublin man, but he was overmatched by Bevan. Fair play to the Southampton fighter too, who kept his celebrations to a minimum while the doctors examined Brennan after the knockout blow.3 days agoRound 6: The doctors investigate Brennan at the start of the sixth for a peculiarly long time, but he’s down from a body shot again as soon as it’s back on. The referee somehow decides to let it go again, and Bevan flattens him with a big left hook. That fight should have been stopped before that last punch.Taylor Bevan def. Emmet Brennan by sixth round stoppage.3 days agoBrennan down for the third time at the end of the fifth from a lovely left hook to the body. He’s back up now and on the stool preparing for the sixth round.3 days agoRound 5: Fair play to Brennan, who not only survived but had a couple of good moments in the fourth. Still, he’ll have to go looking for only his second ever knockout if he wants a win. 3 days agoRound 3: Emmet Brennan goes down heavily on a left hook from Taylor Bevan in the third round. He tries to get inside and smother the follow-up, but he’s caught and go down again. The bell saves him for this round, but it’s hard to imagine him surviving the fourth.3 days agoTwo rounds into Brennan-Bevan, and the English fighter is getting the better of it so far. Brennan has a noticeable bit of reddening around the ribs, but has also had some success with his left hook upstairs. Eight rounds to go anyway.Local boy Emmet Brennan makes his way to the ring for his fight with Taylor Bevan. Photograph: Gary Carr/Inpho 3 days agoDonald McRae charts his connection with Katie Taylor through the years, from her amateur days all the way through to the present day finale.[Katie Taylor: An emotional last night for a quietly defiant pioneer]3 days agoEmmet Brennan, who grew up just around the corner from Croke Park, leads off the action on the main card tonight. The 6-0 super-middleweight and former Olympian makes his way to the ring to face the much-fancied Taylor Bevan, himself boasting a 9-0 record.3 days agoAlthough Katie Taylor is exiting the stage after tonight, there’s no doubt that her effect on sports in Ireland will be long-lasting. James Cox reports on the legacy of a pioneering fighter.[‘I want to be like Katie’: In the shadow of Croke Park, Katie Taylor’s legacy is clear]3 days agoJust to recap on what’s gone on so far tonight at Croke Park, as the preliminary action finishes up on the undercard. Prospects Bobbi Flood and Adam Olaniyan both won well early on, Liverpool’s Joe McGrail stopped Coleraine’s Matthew Boreland, and Katie Taylor’s cousin Molly McCann won a unanimous decision in her fifth pro boxing fight.Results:Paul Ryan def. Paddy Gallagher by unanimous decision.Adam Olaniyan def. Matej Hudak by first round stoppage.Bobbi Flood def. Jack Swallow by unanimous decision.Joe McGrail def. Matthew Boreland by fifth round stoppage.Molly McCann def. Sylwia Doligala by unanimous decision.3 days agoBefore the main event tonight, it’s probably prescient to recap on how we got here. Malachy Clerkin gives the rundown on how Katie Taylor defied all the odds, helping to create the women’s boxing scene she has dominated for decades.[Everything about Katie Taylor’s career was impossible. Until she did it]3 days agoHello and welcome to live coverage of Katie Taylor’s final fight as she draws the curtain on a legendary career tonight in Croke Park. Taylor will take on unbeaten French fighter Flora Pili for the undisputed light-welterweight championship of the world in front of a crowd of over 80,000. The fights will be broadcast on RTÉ from 8pm, and we’ll take you through the various Irish action on the undercard leading up to the main event. Remember to protect yourselves at all times, touch gloves, and stay with us throughout the night!