“People just needed to come together” – inside the Croke Park negotiations that delivered Katie Taylor’s homecoming
The focus was always on delivering a special fight night rather than fighting, reveals Peter McKenna.
The Croke Park Stadium Director says all involved in the historic September 5 Once Upon a Time card were determined to deliver for Irish Icon Katie Taylor, dismissing the idea that there was any significant tension between the protagonists.
Matchroom and Taylor’s closer circle have been talking about a Croke Park bout since she first turned over in late 2016.
At certain stages over the years, a huge GAA Headquarters clash was muted, and in more recent years talks have taken place to no avail. During that time, there appeared to be friction between Croke Park and Matchroom in particular. Indeed, on occasion, Matchroom CEO, Eddie Hearn, bemoaned the cost of hiring the Jones Road venue and publicly expressed his frustration at how negotiations had played out.
A fight night has eventually been made, the famous venue will play host to the sporting great’s final fight on September 5 – and McKenna gave Irish-boxing.com an insight into how talks progressed.
Speaking at Croke Park Stadium on Monday, McKenna dismissed any suggestion that the negotiations were tense or confrontational.
“I didn’t get a sense of too much needle to be honest. I mean I think these things are just professional negotiation,” he told Irish-boxing.com.
“We have a job to do. We have an asset that we want to maximise from an association point of view. Eddie wants to maximise things for his own team, and I think bringing someone like Peter Aiken in, who knew we weren’t bluffing on certain areas, helped bring everything together.
“We just needed everyone to come together and say, ‘Yeah, that works on my side, it works on my side.’ As I say, negotiations are like this for any event. What you’re trying to do is just bring people together.”
“I don’t think there was any obstacle per se. It was just people needed to come together. These things tend to take time… ongoing discussions. That’s just the way it works,”he adds before sharing a belief Peter Aiken’s arrival to the table helped.
“What really was the catalyst that made a change was Peter Aiken getting involved. He has the experience of promoting events in Ireland. Peter knows what the various strangle points are where you need to have to be able to do or not, as the case may be. So I think his involvement made the difference.”
However, McKenna was keen to emphasise that no single individual carried the deal alone, highlighting the contribution of Katie Taylor’s team and Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn.
“I don’t want to take from Brian Peters, who is Katie’s manager… Brian has been extraordinarily passionate to make this event happen. And Eddie Hearn of course… just really wanted this to happen.”
As momentum built, McKenna said the sense among all parties shifted from uncertainty to inevitability.
“There was such a positivity to make it happen… I think it was almost inevitable it was going to come together.”
And now with the fight made, he feels it’s best to look forward to a historic night rather than dwell on the history of negotiations.
“I always think it’s far better to look forward and say we’re now in a good space. Let’s make this a great evening for one of Ireland’s greatest,” he says before continuing along the lines of positivity.
“This is something that I think the Dublin public, the Irish public want to happen. Katie Taylor is an outstanding athlete, an Olympic champion, a world champion at different weights. She is an extraordinarily talented person. So, isn’t it fantastic? We can celebrate her career here in the National Stadium.”
