Katie Taylor’s Final Fight at Croke Park: A Legacy Farewell
Matchroom Boxing is not just filling a Saturday. It’s owning it.
Two shows, one broadcaster, and a single, unmistakable centrepiece: Katie Taylor walking out at Croke Park for the final time, with every major belt at 140 pounds on the line and an entire nation wrapped around her story.
Taylor’s Last Stand at Home
Taylor, 25-1, has never been about theatrics. Yet this is pure theatre.
She brings the WBA, WBO, IBF and The Ring super lightweight titles into the ring against Flora Pili, with the vacant WBC belt completing the undisputed set if she wins. It would restore her status as the absolute ruler at 140 pounds, a position she first claimed between 2023 and 2025 before stepping away and relinquishing that WBC strap for a badly needed break.
Sixteen months have passed since her last fight, the brutal, high-skill trilogy finale with Amanda Serrano under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. That series closed a chapter. Saturday night closes the book.
“The Bray Bomber” insisted on one condition for a final act: Croke Park, Dublin. Her city. Her stadium. No compromise. Eddie Hearn promised he would make it happen and has called this the biggest, greatest night of his career. It’s a bold claim from a promoter who has seen almost everything, but the scale of this one is hard to argue with.
For Taylor, this isn’t about Pili’s style, her record, or the tactical chessboard. It’s about walking out in front of tens of thousands at home, defending everything she has built, and leaving on her terms. Pili arrives as the WBC mandatory challenger, the spoiler invited to the fairytale. The belts, the venue, the farewell – it all crashes together in a single 10-round window.
A Card Built to Match the Occasion
A night like this can’t ride on one fight alone, and Matchroom has stacked the undercard to match the stadium.
In the co-main, Paddy Donovan gets his own big-stage moment against Tyrone McKenna in a 10-round welterweight clash. Donovan is trying to rebuild momentum, coming off a 12-round majority decision over Karen Chukhadzhian in May. That win steadied him after back-to-back defeats to former IBF welterweight champion Lewis Crocker. Now he’s back in front of Irish fans, under the lights, with the chance to turn a rebuilding job into a resurgence.
Heavyweight cult favourite David Allen returns yet again, this time against 11-1 Dubliner Thomas “The Bomber” Carty in a 10-rounder that promises chaos if nothing else. Allen has been relentlessly active, this being his fourth fight in five months, and he arrives off consecutive four-round decision wins over Ross McGuigan and Dan Garber. Carty, local and ambitious, has the opportunity to use Allen’s name and volume of experience as a springboard.
The card also leans into Irish talent and rising names. Taylor Bevan meets Emmet Brennan over 10 rounds at super middleweight. Joe McGrail faces Matthew Boreland in a 10-round super bantamweight contest. Paul Ryan takes on Paddy Gallagher over eight at middleweight. Adam Olaniyan and Matej Hudak clash in a four-round heavyweight bout, while Bobbi Flood opens the show against Jack Swallow at junior middleweight over four.
Before Taylor walks, another crowd-pleaser steps through the ropes. Former UFC flyweight standout “Meatball” Molly McCann continues her transition into boxing, headlining the prelims in her fifth professional bout. The 36-year-old meets Sylwia Doligala, 8-2-2, in an eight-round junior featherweight contest. McCann brings a different audience and a raw intensity, but Doligala brings the record of a seasoned operator.
The action from Croke Park begins with prelims at 11 a.m. ET, rolling into the main card at 2 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. BST, all live on DAZN. The venue is iconic. The stakes, especially for Taylor, are absolute.
An Early Start in Germany
For those willing to start their day early, the boxing doesn’t wait for Dublin. It begins in Ludwigshafen, Germany, with a 10-fight card that offers its own intrigue.
Slawa Spomer tops the bill in a 10-round welterweight bout against undefeated Ghanaian Faisal Abubakari. Spomer is still remembered for the nine-round beating he absorbed from former WBA and WBO 154-pound champion Xander Zayas in February 2025, a loss that exposed levels at the very top. He has since responded with a third-round TKO of Jaime Villegas in February, a necessary reset after the Zayas lesson.
This Rheinland-Pfalz show, promoted by Aldo Ricardo Silman and Primora Boxing, is loaded with local talent. Spomer is one of 11 German fighters on the card, giving the event a strong home flavour.
Fedor Michel meets Ralfs Vicans over 10 rounds at light heavyweight. Ibo Diallo faces Shefat Isufi in a 10-round cruiserweight contest. Franklyn Dwomoh takes on Cristian Villanueva in an eight-round lightweight bout. Dominique Roundtree and Tamas Kiliti clash over six at featherweight.
The undercard keeps rolling with Alexander Okafor vs. Daniil Iudin (six rounds, light heavyweight), Omar Jagana vs. Mario Turiello (six rounds, light middleweight), Jasurbek Yuldoshev vs. Jacob Miller (six rounds, light heavyweight), Sebastian Busch vs. Artur Andrejev (four rounds, super middleweight), and Lucas Vogt vs. Sun Tiebo (four rounds, light middleweight).
The German show starts at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT, also on DAZN, serving as a long, steady build into the Croke Park spectacle.
A Day That Belongs to One Name
Across two countries and 20 fights, Matchroom has turned this weekend into a marathon for boxing fans. Germany offers the volume. Dublin offers the emotion.
Yet when the cameras pan across Croke Park and the noise swells for one final ring walk, everything else on the schedule will feel like a warm-up.
Katie Taylor began her professional journey chasing belts and respect. On Saturday night, in her hometown stadium, she fights for something different: the perfect last image.
