Katie Taylor’s historic farewell broke new ground last weekend as millions around the world tuned in to watch the emotional scenes from a sold-out Croke Park in Dublin.
In what was the highest-ever attendance for a boxing card headlined by two female stars, over 82,000 fans witnessed Taylor’s iconic crowning glory against Flora Pili, when the Irish hero became Undisputed Champion for a third time, before laying down her gloves.
In viewing figures released today, an incredible 1.6million viewers tuned in Ireland on RTÉ, who broadcasted the fight free-to-air all thanks to having the non-exclusive rights shared with them by the Global Home of Boxing, DAZN, who streamed it live across the globe.
The fight amassing a further half a million streams on RTÉ Player. The programme had an average of 973,000 viewers representing a 74% share of the available viewing audience.
And over a whopping 150 million social media impressions, with almost 95 million views, racked up across Matchroom and DAZN Boxing channels for a night that will forever be etched in sporting folklore.
Speaking after her triumphant swansong, Taylor said: “The people of Ireland gave me a dream end to a dream career. Nothing can top this. This was definitely the highlight of my whole career.
“I didn’t think anything could get bigger than London 2012 and then MSG came along. I didn’t think anything could get bigger than that first fight with Serrano and then here we are at Croke Park. I ended my career on top, like every athlete wants to do, on my terms, and I ended it as the undisputed champion.
“I don’t think there’s another country in the world that would sell 80,000 tickets for a female athlete. I’m convinced Ireland was the only country that would actually do that. What a way to end this amazing journey.
“I started off this career and I had the dream of becoming an Olympic champion. I achieved that, but then these last 10 years have been beyond my wildest dreams. It’s been a remarkable 10 years.”
Against the iconic backdrop of the home of the GAA, which had not staged a boxing event since the legendary Muhammad Ali fought there in 1972, the London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist outclassed Pili with an unanimous 100-90, 100-90, 98-9 points win to see her bow out with a professional record of 26-1 having successfully defended her WBO, WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine titles and winning the WBC Super Lightweight Championship.
Fans in the stadium and at home were treated to an unrivalled spectacle with world class boxing, spectacular fireworks and a special, headline performance from global chart-topping superstars Westlife. Meanwhile, Róisín O and Aoife Scott performed spine tingling acappella renditions of Grace and Amhrán na bhFiann before the fight.
Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn added: “That was the greatest moment I’ve ever had in my entire career. What a night.
“I’ve done so many stadium shows but this was different. The feeling was like a nation united, across so many different generations.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening. And it was all down to one very special person in Katie Taylor. She is a trailblazer. She is our hero. We’ll never see another fighter quite like her ever again.”
