Katie Taylor retires as undisputed champion before 83,000 at Croke — SkimNews
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- Katie Taylor defeated Flora Pili at Croke Park in her final professional bout, retiring at age 40 as a three-time, two-weight undisputed champion in front of 83,000 fans.
- Taylor's farewell took place just three miles from the site of her first official bout 25 years earlier, capping 30 years lacing up the gloves.
- Taylor won Olympic gold at London 2012 by beating Sofya Ochigava in the lightweight final, after previously helping convince the IOC to add women's boxing to the Olympic programme.
- The 2022 Serrano fight at Madison Square Garden marked the first time a women's bout headlined the famous arena — a turning point Taylor credits with lifting women's professional boxing.
- Taylor avenged her sole professional defeat by Chantelle Cameron to become a two-weight undisputed champion, completing the trilogy of career comebacks before retirement.
- Taylor began boxing disguised as 'K from Bray' to compete in a male-only environment, and at 15 took part in Ireland's first sanctioned women's bout since Deirdre Gogarty's 1991 debut.
- Taylor told the post-fight press conference: 'My story is the story of everyone in this room: we all have our ups and downs,' reflecting on the heartbreak of Rio 2016 and the Cameron loss.
Why it matters: Taylor bows out as arguably Ireland's greatest sportsperson at a moment when women's professional boxing has never had a bigger stage, having headlined Madison Square Garden and drawn 83,000 to Croke Park. The Serrano trilogy and her Olympic trailblazing leave the female code in a 'vastly better place' than she found it, per the article — a direct legacy claim from a retiring three-weight undisputed champion.
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