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"I can do whatever I want" - Katie Taylor shares retirement plans

Ireland's Katie Taylor left her gloves in the ring last night after a dominant performance in Cro...
Newstalk
Newstalk

11.29 6 Sep 2026


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"I can do whatever I want...

"I can do whatever I want" - Katie Taylor shares retirement plans

Newstalk
Newstalk

11.29 6 Sep 2026


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Ireland's Katie Taylor left her gloves in the ring last night after a dominant performance in Croke Park marking her last boxing match before retirement.

Katie Taylor gave Irish fans a night they'll never forget after defeating Flora Pili in Croke Park.

She had confirmed the fight would mark her last, and she would be retiring no matter what the result.

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During the post-match press conference, Taylor was asked what she planned on doing on the first day of her retirement, and she simply reminded everyone that she can "do whatever" she wants now.

She said: "I'm going to relax with the family and have a nice celebration and look back on the last 28 years in the ring.

"I'm retired now, so I can eat all I want. I can do whatever I want, really. But I'm just going to enjoy tomorrow [today]. Just enjoy a nice celebration.

"It was just a dream and a dream career for me and what a way to end. I said in the ring, I don't think there's another country in the world that will sell 80,000 tickets for a female athlete. I'm convinced that Ireland is the only country that would actually do that.

"Just what a way to end this amazing journey. I started off this career with becoming an Olympic champion and [what] I achieved with these last 10 years have been beyond my wildest dreams.

"I didn't think this was even possible over these last 10 years. So it's been just a remarkable 10 years."

 

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Fans were buzzing for the bout ahead of the bell, with one telling Newstalk: "She is a legend. She's just an absolute lady, a hero of Irish sport.

"And I'll tell you one thing; I've been at a lot of Ireland Hurling finals here, but this is the night of my life just to pay tribute to that girl and I hope she just gets everything she deserves.

"She's an absolute hero of Ireland."

Another fan shared: "This is probably one of my proudest moments. I'll wake up in the morning and I'll say, 'I was there to see her.'

"I'll go to my grave thinking that. That I was in Croke Park to see Katie Taylor.

"I'm going to cry. I'm going to cry when she walks out. The whole of this country is going to cry when she walks out."

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, Off The Ball's John Duggan explained how there's three layers to her legacy.

"There are three parts of her legacy to my mind," he said. "The first part is that nothing is impossible.

"I don't believe women's Olympic boxing or women's world championship boxing would have happened and the status of pro boxing, the way Katie Taylor would headline Madison Square Garden, these types of places without her, it would not have happened, which is just one person.

"The second part is resilience. I was reporting on the Rio Olympics in 2016 and Katie lost her opening bout to Maripat Conan and she was right in front of us, the media.

Katie Taylor fan Harper Errity Picture by: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie Katie Taylor fan Harper Errity Picture by: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

"The absolute devastation on her face and in her body and consoled by her mother with her Olympic title gone. So soon after that, she turned professional. 10 years later, here we are.

"To me, that is obviously a legacy issue of never giving up focus when things go wrong.

"The third part, obviously, for young people, for boys and girls to follow their dreams. I mean, the kids who watched that fight last night, who will have a bounce in their step today playing whatever sport they want.

"Look, competing is enough, obviously, but dreams are achievable because she is literally the evidence of that."

Main image: Katie Taylor celebrates her victory, Picture by: PA Wire/PA Images


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