What to Know
- Irish boxers and their opponents get the opportunity of a lifetime on Saturday to appear at Croke Park in Dublin as part of the Taylor vs Pili fight card.
- Heavyweight Thomas Carty, welterweights Paddy Donovan and Tyrone McKenna, and Emmet Brennan lead the lineup.
- Undercard fights air live in the U.S. on DAZN Boxing and the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel starting at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT, with the main four-fight card starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on DAZN Boxing.
Before Katie Taylor makes her final ring walk at iconic Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday night to face Flora Pili, an exciting undercard will feature Irish fighters, including an all-Irish welterweight showdown and a heavyweight bout with a Dublin native son versus a British fan favorite.
In Dublin, it’s impossible to overstate the hold Saturday’s upcoming fight card has on the city and the entire nation. It’s in every conversation and on every news report, not merely on sports segments.
Signs hang from buildings and apartments, including one reading, “Sorry Flora, Only One Croke Park Miracle Allowed Per Year – C’mon Katie.”
For the 16 fighters in the eight undercard fights, there’s no more important time for a breakout performance in front of 80,000 fans, a nation watching in every pub and household, and an international audience around the world. At the final pre-fight news conference on Thursday with the supporting players, they understand the task ahead.
Heavy Hitting Co-Main Event from Carty and Allen
The co-main event offers a heavyweight matchup between Thomas Carty of Dublin (11-1, 9 KOs) and popular Dave “White Rhino” Allen of Doncaster (25-9-2, 20 KOs). Allen suffered a debilitating third-round TKO loss against Filip Hrgovic in May, which in hindsight fares a little better considering the fate of Moses Itauma a week ago.
Allen was brutally honest about himself, but still believes he’s got something to offer against Carty, who is returning from a loss due to an injury and ring retirement.
“After the Hrgovic fight, all the feeling left me really, for boxing. The feeling has left. I’m not here trying to resurrect a run at any titles. I’m here to fight, really. That’s it. There’s no mad ambitions, there’s no anything,” insisted Allen.
“At this level I’m a proper handful. People say whatever about my weight, about my effort levels. When I get in the ring at this level, if you’re not Hrgovic, I’ll take some beating. I think you’re a good fighter, but if you’re not very good, I’ll fucking flatten you. I always have. You’re a proper solid bloke, I like you, but I’ll flatten him, 100%. I don’t have a doubt.”
“Listen, I’m a fan of Dave,” said Carty. “I remember all of his fights. I’ve been watching him the whole way through. More and more as I got on with my career, I started to think maybe there’s a chance me and Dave could fight. What better opportunity than Croke Park?
“Dave is no joke. I’m absolutely well aware of what Dave brings to the table. I couldn’t have done any more. Dave says at this level. I’m maxed out. I did everything that I could in this camp. I’m in a really. really good position right now coming back from the injury. I’m probably better right now than I was beforehand. This is going to be my best fight on Saturday night, absolutely.”
Carty later spoke to me and said he couldn’t overstate the enormity of the fight. “I don’t think we’ll ever see anything like this again in this country.”
All-Irish Showdown Between Paddy Donovan and Tyrone McKenna
The fight many Irish fans are most looking forward to is the welterweight matchroom between title contender Paddy Donovan of Limerick (15-2, 11 KOs), sporting a new blond hairstyle, and veteran Thomas McCarty of Belfast (25-6-1, 8 KOs). Donovan is on a tear with his victory over Karen Chudkhadzhian and two hotly disputed fights against Lewis Crocker.
The pair have known each other for many years and have been friendly, but Donovan has gotten into it with McCarty all week, including on Thursday.
Donovan says it’s his time. “I know Tyrone and I know the ins and outs of him. He can have all the training he wants; he can just be fit. I know the way he fights and his gameplan. There’s nothing going to change with Tyrone. He’s a scrapper. Tyrone knows exactly how good I am. He’s shared the ring with me many times and he’s going to find out I’m the best welterweight out there.”
McKenna knows at age 36 he’s in the home stretch of his career. He decided to train in Philadelphia with Bozy Ennis and Aaron Ford alongside Boots Ennis to prepare himself. McKenna once sparred a 16-year-old Boots Ennis and was impressed even then. McKenna joined an increasingly international lineup at Bozy’s Dungeon.
“I’ve put myself through hell for this camp,” said McKenna. “You take a West Belfast man and take him to North Philly, it’s a dangerous combination. It’s been tough. Sparring three days a week. This is the most I’ve ever sparred for a camp. It’s a world class gym and I’m surrounded by world class fighters. The coaching is world class. So, I’ve done absolutely everything for this fight.”
The Philly setting also lighted up McKenna’s pushback.
“I think Paddy is overlooking me … You have to have your eyes on me. Get your mind right. I’m coming for you. You better believe it. I’m coming for you. I am going to drown you, son. You’re not going to be able to breathe. You’re not going to breathe.”
Coach Aaron Ford, who’s known Bozy Ennis for 40 years, will work the corner as the only American at Croke Park this Saturday. Ford talked with us about how impressed he is with McKenna’s progress and he’s calling for the upset.
Saturday Card Hits Home for Brennan and McCann
Commonwealth Games silver medalist Taylor Bevan of Southampton, now living in Cardiff, Wales (9-0, 8 KOs), takes on Irish Olympian Emmet Brennan of Dublin (6-0, 1 KO), who quite literally grew up in the shadow of Croke Park a few blocks away.
Imagine growing up next to Yankee Stadium and wearing the pinstripes one day. That’s Brennan.
Bevan said he’s confident in a win but knows he will get the best version of Brennan. “This is his dream come true, but this is a dream for me as well: boxing on one of the biggest stages in boxing in front of 80,000 fans. I’ve left no stone unturned in camp, and you’re going to get the very best version of me on Saturday night.”
Brennan offered every reason to believe he’ll be ready. “It’s going to be a war of attrition from the first round. There’s a bit of a height difference; I’m not going to win this on the back foot. It’s going to be from the get-go.”
The lone women’s fight on the undercard featured former MMA champion Molly McCann of London (4-0, 1 KO) against Sylwia Doligala (8-2-2), a native of Poland training in Yorkshire. After 14 wins in 20 MMA fights, half of those wins in the UFC, McCann is settling in nicely as a boxer.
McCann jokes about a long-running boast by former world champion Carl Froch. “I’m going to be the new Carl Froch. None of us have heard the end of him fighting at Wembley. It’ll be, “Remember that time I fought at Croke Park in front of 80,000 people?” That’s my new one liner,” laughed McCann, who then took a serious turn, recalling how she was turned away from boxing as a young girl.
When she finally started, her dad had he watch a video of a young girl training with her father: Katie and Pete Taylor.
“I was like, ‘oh my god, I want to be like her!’ said McCann. “Twenty years later, here we are.
“It’s not lost on me. I know how many girls and how many young men would kill to be in this position. I’m really aware of the honor and the privilege that it is. It’s like you’re walking on clouds every day. I’ve fought on massive stages before in my other careers … I’ve learnt from highs and I’ve learnt from the lows. The win isn’t just getting here and walking out. The win is the win when your hand is raised at the end of the fight.”
READ MORE: Ireland Bids Farewell to Katie Taylor on Saturday
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.
