Katie Taylor’s farewell fight has been confirmed for Friday at Croke Park in Dublin on Saturday, September 5, when she will face France’s Flora Pili in a bid to become a three-time undisputed champion in the final fight of her career. Matchroom Boxing announced the event at its opening press conference at the stadium, from which it released footage BBC Sport. The card will be shown globally on DAZN.

Taylor (25-1, 6 KO), 39, will defend the WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine super lightweight titles and will face Pili (12-0, 2 KO) for the vacant WBC belt. The victory will restore her undisputed 140-pound status for the third time.

“We’ve done it, we’ve actually brought boxing back to Croke Park,” Taylor told the venue. “It’s been on my career wish list, especially over the last few months, but it’s exceeded my wildest expectations. We’re actually here, we’ve made it happen.”

“A few years ago it was a really impossible dream, but here we are. I have goosebumps. I really can’t believe that I’m in this situation now,” she added. “It will be the most iconic moment of my entire career. I have the chance to fight in a packed stadium in Croke Park, our most iconic venue. It truly is a cathedral of Irish sport.”

Four years of chasing

Taylor first hinted at a headliner in Croke Park following her opening win over Amanda Serrano in April 2022, but talks between Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom and the stadium’s operators have repeatedly stalled in the following years. Hearn said an agreement was almost never reached.

“Three months ago, four months ago, we were sitting in a restaurant and Katie told me she’s had enough, it’s over for her career,” Hearn said. “It was about a month later when she called [manager] Brian Peters and said, “I can’t go, I can’t go until it happens. Please make it happen.”

“Every time the going got tough, every time the door closed, every time there were barriers, we thought of Katie Taylor. What would she do? Well, she would never be denied,” Hearn continued. “I’m not often at a loss for words, but this thing exceeds our wildest expectations. It will be the greatest night in the history of women’s boxing. The largest audience in the history of women’s sports for an individual athlete.”

Why They Drank

Pili was confirmed as her opponent after the WBC named her a top contender earlier this week. Taylor said she wanted a real test before saying goodbye.

“I didn’t want to end my career with someone I could move on from,” Taylor said. “After the last fight I wasn’t sure if I would fight again. The only thing that gave me that passion again was Croke Park and I also wanted it to be a real fight with real risk that would give me the motivation and hunger to fight again and I have that in Flora. It’s a real fight, a very hazardous fight and I have to give everything I can.”

“But I imagine this walk around the ring when I step into the ring for the last time,” she said. “I think this will be the last time I hear that ‘ole, ole, ole’ around Croke Park. It’s going to be very, very special and I want to put on a performance worthy of everyone’s support over the last few years.”

Pili is 28 years venerable and comes from Moselle in northeastern France. She turned professional in 2019, won the French champion title in 2022, the European champion title in 2023, and won the IBO belt in December by defeating Jelena Janicijevic. She is the mandatory challenger for Taylor’s IBF title and the main challenger for the WBC title, which became vacant when Sandy Ryan relinquished the belt before the birth of her first child.

Tour, tickets and broadcast

Manager Brian Peters, who has managed Taylor throughout her professional career, described the evening as the conclusion of a long cycle. “It’s a fitting final chapter to one of sports’ greatest fables,” Peters said. “She has reigned as world champion for 20 years and it has been the most extraordinary journey. She has seen and experienced it all, but regaining the Undisputed title in Croke Park will truly surpass anything that has come before.”

Taylor will begin a four-day promotional tour of Ireland on Saturday, starting in her hometown of Bray before stopping in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Belfast. Tickets will go on sale to the general public via Ticketmaster on Friday, June 12, priced from €38.70, with family packages priced at €125.50 in the non-alcoholic section of the stadium. Matchroom Fight Pass pre-sale will begin on Wednesday, June 10.

The event will be the first boxing event to be held at Croke Park, the 82,300-capacity home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, since Muhammad Ali defeated Al “Blue” Lewis in 1972.

Teddy Atlas pointed out one major factor that could make Dmitry Bivol too much of a risk for David Benavidez.

Their potential uncontested clash could come later this year or early next year, although both featherlight heavyweight champions are equally considering alternative options.

Considering Bivol just defended his IBF, WBO and WBA titles against Michael Eifert, it seems there is a lot of interest in the Artur Beterbiev trilogy in Russia.

Beterbiev won their first meeting by majority decision in October 2024, while Bivol won the undisputed crown by the same margin in the rematch the following February.

Therefore, it would make sense for the pair to go into the fight at the distance, potentially leaving Benavidez at 200 pounds in pursuit of more titles.

The “Mexican Monster” dethroned Gilberto Ramirez after a sixth-round stoppage last month he became a three-division world champion, winning the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles.

He has since become the mandatory challenger to WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian, while still holding his green and gold belt at 175 pounds.

Had Atlas won, Benavidez would have been aiming for a three-belt unification fight in his current weight class, rather than making the same mistake Roy Jones Jr made in his illustrious career.

I keep talking his YouTube channelthe Hall of Fame trainer explained the danger of losing weight after acclimating to the above division.

“The only thing that worries me is this [with Benavidez] weight gain and loss. Example: Roy Jones Jr.

“When he came upstairs [to fight] John Ruiz won this version of the heavyweight title and then came back, he was never the same. He got older, but he was never the same.

“[If] you gain weight and then you have to lose it – [Benavidez] This can be done, but it may be a problem.

For pound-for-pound legend Jones, his bold decision to re-join the 175-pound weight class ultimately led to his second-round loss to Antonio Tarver.

Dana White used his post-fight press conference after Zuffa Boxing 07 in Bournemouth, England, on Saturday, June 6, 2026, to escalate his feud with Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn, hours after a rival promoter filed a lawsuit to block the card and as the promotion confirmed further expansion. The main attraction of the Zuffa Boxing gala on British soil was Chris Billam-Smith, who defeated Ryan Rozicki by technical knockout in the seventh round.

White renews his feud with Hearn

Much of the question-and-answer session focused on Hearn, who earlier this week said he intended to prevent UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall from competing until the fighter’s contract was renegotiated. Aspinall is represented by Hearn’s Matchroom talent agency.

“He said he wanted to [Aspinall] fired, right? Then release Bam Rodriguez. Sounds pretty stupid, right? “Congratulations Eddie, you sound stupid again,” White said, referring to Matchroom player Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez. Regarding the prospect of forcing the champion back into the cage, White added: “You can’t force anyone to fight. You have to want to fight.”

White also revisited Conor Benn’s departure from Matchroom. “Eddie Hearn is full of s***. He didn’t even pay his best friend Conor Benn,” White said. He continued: “Eddie, who apparently Benn was his best friend, was crying, literally crying for weeks. He didn’t even want to pay him, but he wants to pay my guy. He could pay his best friend and they could stay best friends.”

Benn left Matchroom for Zuffa Boxing earlier this year for $15 million. Hearn said he lent Benn money over the years, citing figures including £250,000 for a house and a £300,000 down payment towards his fight purse, which Benn disputes.

White further addressed the Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury negotiations, challenging reporters in comments captured by talkSPORT Boxing: “You think I would lie and look like a fucking idiot? Call Eddie Hearn now and ask who negotiated the AJ-Fury fight.” He did not elaborate on the nature of his role.

BOXXER seeks a court order

The press conference followed a legal complaint filed on the eve of the charter. BOXXER, the promotion company headed by Ben Shalom, is seeking an emergency injunction from the English courts against Zuffa Boxing and Sky Sports, maintaining that Billam-Smith and the inexperienced Sam Hickey remain bound by their contract with BOXXER.

“BOXXER can confirm that it is seeking an urgent injunction against Zuffa Boxing and Sky Sports in relation to the promotion and the proposed participation of fighters who remain subject to binding contractual obligations to BOXXER,” the company said in a statement. Zuffa Boxing does not accept the complaint and continues the event as planned, according to Yahoo Sports.

In April, Billam-Smith signed a multi-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing. He said that his contract with BOXXER expires at the end of 2025, while BOXXER claims that he has the right to match any offer made to him. BOXXER claims that when Hickey announced his move in May, he was under a long-term contract. BOXXER and Sky Sports had a four-year broadcasting deal which expired in June 2025; Sky Sports did not renew and instead signed deals with Zuffa Boxing and Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.

The expansion continues

Zuffa Boxing confirmed further dates as the dispute unfolds. Her first gala in Ireland, announced as Zuffa Boxing 10, will take place on August 8 at the 3Arena in Dublin. White said the organization plans to stage at least five events a year in the UK under a multi-year deal with Sky Sports and its roster continues, with recent signings including junior welterweight champion Shakur Stevenson, a move Hearn confirmed, not a promotion.

Zuffa Boxing 07 aired on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland and streamed live on Paramount+ in the US and Canada.