‘Not giving up’ – Eddie Hearn makes Katie Taylor a Croke Park Promise
Eddie Hearn has assured Katie Taylor he won’t give up on Croke Park and a massive fight night at the famous stadium.
The Matchroom promoter doesn’t think the two-weight undisputed world champion will be heading to Jones Road in May – but remains hopeful of one day visiting GAA Headquarters.
Croke Park was first on the agenda for May of last year but a fall out over costs prompted Matchroom to move the Irish sporting stars homecoming to the 3Arena.
After back-to-back Dublin Dockland nights and Taylor successfully avenging a defeat to Chantelle Cameron in November it was meant to be full steam ahead Croke Park again. However, the train has begun to come off the tracks in recent weeks with various interested parties including the GAA, Government and Matchroom raising concerns.
As a result, May looks extremely unlikely but Hearn isn’t giving up hope of ever promoting in the historic venue.
“I’ll be honest, they’ve been very helpful,” Hearn said of Croke Park when speaking to the Irish Mirror.
“We’ve had some very positive conversations, but it is expensive.
“Do they want to stage a major boxing event? Maybe. They want to help Katie Taylor and we thank them for those conversations. I don’t think it will be there in May, but I do think she will fight there before her career ends.
“I spoke to Katie, we’re definitely not going to give up on it, but we’ve got to make sure we plan the date effectively.”
With Croke Park off the table the most likely venue is the 3Arena – and it’s believed that venue has been booked for May 25.
However, the Matchroom CEO who also promotes Gary Cully and Paddy Donovan, says there are options with regard to venue, although he does assure Matchroom ‘will be returning to Ireland for a big show in May.’
On the possibility of returning to the 3Arena, Hearn added: “I think we’ve had two incredible nights there, I don’t mind going back there. We would like to go outside but time is moving fast and I just want to make sure we get it locked in.
“It also depends on the opponent. If it is Chantelle, we can potentially go to a bigger stadium. If it’s not then the 3Arena might work as well.”
