Katie Taylor retires as undisputed champion, defeats Flora Pili at Croke Park on September 5

Katie Taylor, 40, closed her professional boxing career with a unanimous decision over Flora Pili on September 5, 2026, at Croke Park in Dublin, winning the super lightweight titles with scores of 100-90, 100-90, and 98-91 according to Sporting News. Taylor became an undisputed champion for the third time and for the second time at super lightweight, per Sporting News. The victory concluded what Taylor had announced as her final professional bout and took place before over 80,000 fans at Croke Park, per Sporting News.

The attendance marked a historic moment for the venue and for boxing. According to BBC Sport, approximately 80 percent of the 80,000 attendees had never previously attended a boxing event. The crowd size ranked as the sixth largest recorded post-war attendance for a boxing event anywhere in the world, per BBC Sport. Croke Park had not hosted a boxing event since 1972, when Muhammad Ali fought Al Lewis, according to Sporting News. Tickets sold out in 17 minutes when they went on sale in June, per The Guardian.

Taylor's career record stands at 26 wins and one loss, per BBC Sport. Her only professional defeat came against Chantelle Cameron in Dublin in 2023, per BBC Sport. Taylor avenged that loss six months later at the 3Arena to become undisputed champion in a second weight division, according to BBC Sport. She turned professional in 2016, per BBC Sport. The superlight titles Taylor won comprised the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO, and The Ring belts, per Sporting News. Taylor had compiled a four-fight winning streak heading into the Pili bout, per Sporting News.

Pili entered the fight with a record of 12-1, per Sporting News. Before the bout, Taylor had previously sold out Madison Square Garden, according to BBC Sport. According to BBC Sport, Taylor won an epic trilogy against Amanda Serrano. Taylor won the Olympic gold medal in 2012 at London, per The Guardian. Women and girls were banned from the ring in Ireland and the UK when Taylor was young, and she disguised herself as a boy and signed up to bouts as "K Taylor," according to The Guardian. Irish authorities lifted the ban on women's boxing in 2001, when Taylor was 15, per The Guardian. Taylor's father Pete trained her, and the two were instrumental in having women's boxing added to the Olympic Games, per The Guardian.

Westlife performed at the event, according to BBC Sport. Per BBC Sport, the Irish band performed "World of Our Own" and "You Raise Me Up." Eddie Hearn, Taylor's promoter, paid tribute to her after the bout, calling her "Ireland's greatest sportsperson" according to BBC Sport.