Eddie Hearn Wants To Make Croke Park Fight 'Happen' For Katie Taylor

Speaking in the aftermath of Katie Taylor's epic victory over Chantelle Cameron on Saturday, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has stated that he will do everything in his power to land the Bray fighter a fight at Croke Park next Summer.

Hearn made these comments following Taylor's huge win against her English opponent at the 3Arena on Saturday night, meaning that Taylor is a World Champion at two different weights.

This win also saw Taylor get revenge for her defeat to the same opponent earlier in the year.

The prospect of a third fight between the two opponents at GAA Headquarters would appear to be a mouth-watering prospect for team Taylor. Whether or not this event materialises depends on the mending of fences between Taylor's promoters Matchroom and stadium management.

When the prospect of Taylor fighting at Croker was previously mentioned, a war of words ensued between Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn, and stadium management regarding costs.

Negotiations to secure Croke Park for Taylor's homecoming fight fell through last May, which ended in recriminations for both parties. Matchroom alleged that it cost three times more to hire Croke Park, than it would to hire Wembley Stadium.

However, these claims were dismissed by stadium director Peter McKenna, who insisted that security costs were the real issue, stating that Croke Park should float the bill for this.

The parties also tried to get the Irish Government involved in this deal, which proved unsuccessful, while MMA fighter Conor McGregor even offered to come up with the money, with his drinks company sponsoring the two Taylor v Cameron clashes at the 3Arena. 

Eddie Hearn has insisted that he does not need any financial favours from Croke Park to make this epic fight a reality, with the promoter instead seeking a charge comparable to iconic sporting venues across the world, including London's Wembley Stadium, Cardiff's Millenium Stadium, or the AT&T Stadium, which hosts the Dallas Cowboys.

Another key issue is if Matchroom and streaming service DAZN believe a third Taylor v Cameron fight, or a rematch between the Bray boxer and Amanda Serrano would sell enough tickets to make it appealing to Croke Park. 

"everything we can do"

Hearn spoke at a post fight press conference, promising that more than 10 thousand €30 tickets would be available for a show in Croke Park, if they were able to attract a capacity crowd of 60,000. 

This would mean that the receipts would be similar to the gross figure for Saturday's sell out show at the 3Arena. 

Hearn also said that they would do “everything we can to” to ensure the fight takes place at Croke Park, with a possible rematch with Cameron on the cards.

“The reality is if we want to reach those levels financially and pay fighters what they deserve, we need to hit huge gates and Katie Taylor draws huge gates. Especially in Ireland,” Hearn stated.

“My first thoughts are, if we’re going Croke Park – which we’ll do everything we can to – Chantelle Cameron is the pick for the trilogy". 

Initial contact between the respective parties is likely to be made this week.