Taylor’s ‘dream ending to a dream career’
Katie Taylor has retired from professional boxing after a farewell victory over Flora Pili in front of 83,000 fans at Dublin's Croke Park, capping a 30-year career that transformed the profile of women's boxing. The 40-year-old Irishwoman bows out as a three-time and two-weight undisputed champion, finishing with a record of 26 wins and one defeat, and her final bout came just three miles from the venue of her first official fight 25 years earlier.
Taylor began boxing at a time when the sport was largely closed to women, competing under a disguised identity before taking part in Ireland's first sanctioned women's bout in 2001. Her performance at the 2012 London Olympics, where she won lightweight gold, helped secure women's boxing's place on the Olympic programme and turned her into a national icon, a status she carried into a successful professional career under promoter Eddie Hearn. She described her Croke Park send-off, where she became the first boxer since Muhammad Ali in 1972 to headline the stadium, as "beyond my wildest dreams".
- Katie Taylor retires after beating Flora Pili at Croke Park in Dublin
- Ends career with 26 wins, one loss, as undisputed champion
- Pioneered women's boxing, won 2012 Olympic gold in London
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Katie Taylor is an Irish former professional boxer who has just retired after a career spanning three decades. She first started boxing as a girl, at a time when the sport barely allowed women to compete, and had to hide her identity to take part in early bouts before eventually competing in Ireland's first officially sanctioned women's fight in 2001.
Taylor's breakthrough came at the 2012 London Olympics, where she won gold in the lightweight division, a result widely credited with helping women's boxing gain a permanent place at the Olympics. She went on to become a hugely popular figure in Ireland and built a successful professional career, becoming a multiple-weight world champion working with promoter Eddie Hearn.
Her final fight took place at Croke Park in Dublin, a major stadium venue, in front of a large crowd, and ended her career with only one defeat across dozens of professional bouts. The event is being seen as significant not just for Taylor personally, but for the broader story of how women's boxing has grown in recognition and popularity during her time in the sport.