'Unexpected heavyweight stop': Katie Taylor visits Limerick on 32-county tour
The legendary boxer will fight her final fight this September in Croke Park
BOXING legend Katie Taylor stopped by Limerick this weekend as part of her massive 32-county promotional tour across Ireland to build excitement for her historic Croke Park fight.
She will take on France’s Flora Pili in what will be the final fight of her phenomenal career.
Limerick gardaí were in for a surprise when they made “an unexpected heavyweight stop” this Sunday, June 7.
In a post on social media, @gardainsta_limerick shared a photo of Katie Taylor and her manager, Brian Peters, with local community gardaí in front of her tour bus on Henry Street.
The picture was captioned: “Our Henry Street Community Gardaí, Chris and Brian, were out & about in the city today when they made an unexpected heavyweight stop - crossing paths with boxing superstar Katie Taylor as she passed through Limerick.”
“I have to get back in the gym!”
While in the Treaty city, the Bray native stopped by St Francis Boxing Club to impart some wisdom on the group of young boxers: “The fight is won or lost in the gym when nobody’s watching - that prepares you for battle under bright lights.”
She added: “Keep working hard, the hard work is never wasted time - the character that it builds and the perseverance that it builds.
“You guys are gonna do great things in the future, I can see it in yous and I can’t wait to see your future, guys. Keep it up and listen to your coaches, keep working hard.”
Katie Taylor has been very thankful for the support she has received throughout her campaign to fight her final fight in Croke Park.
“It’s been amazing,” she told Live95’s Nadia Sakni on air this Sunday. “The last ten years of my life as a professional boxer - I don’t think I ever dreamt of being where I am today.”
She added: “As a kid, I had this dream of being an Olympic champion, this was even before women’s boxing was included in the Olympic Games. Thank God I achieved that, but these last few years, I didn’t even have the capacity to dream these dreams. To end my career in Croke Park is another surreal moment.”
Tickets for the fight, which will take place in Croke Park on Saturday, September 5, go on sale this Friday, June 12, on Ticketmaster
“I have to get back in the gym!” Katie joked.
She said that she “can’t wait” to feel the atmosphere in the stadium and hear the chants of ‘Ole, ole, ole’ “just one more time”.
She acknowledged that it will likely be an emotional ring walk, but admitted that she doesn’t have her walk-out song picked out yet.