Katie Taylor embracing retirement ahead of Croke Park farewell: 'It's not bittersweet for me, it's just sweet'

Katie Taylor is determined to enjoy every moment of her final fight week, but the time for fully reflecting on her extraordinary career will come only after the job is finished.

Ireland’s Taylor (25-1, 6 KOs) brings her 30-year journey in boxing to an end Saturday when she fights for the undisputed super lightweight championship against Flora Pili (12-0 2 KOs) in front of 80,000 of her adoring Irish fans at Croke Park in Dublin.

The 40-year-old is not approaching retirement with sadness, however. After capturing an Olympic gold medal, undisputed championships in two weight classes and a series of historic nights around the world, Taylor believes she is walking away at the right time.

“Some people have said to me over the last few months, ‘It must be so bittersweet for you,'” Taylor said on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” this week. “It’s not bittersweet for me. It’s just sweet looking back at the whole career. I’m very, very grateful for it all.

“I’m ending my career with just a grateful full stop. I can move on to the next chapter and look back with a smile on my face.”

Taylor has already experienced some of the final milestones of her career. She completed what she expects to have been her last training-camp spar Friday and allowed herself to appreciate a routine that began when she first entered the ring as a 10-year-old.

“I said, ‘I’m just going to enjoy my last spar,'” Taylor said. “Just those moments along the way — just like, ‘Wow, what an amazing journey.’ Thirty years in the ring, my first-ever spar, I was a 10-year-old. Just looking back on all the amazing people I’ve met along the way, it’s been some career, some journey.”

Taylor’s career has taken her far beyond the ambitions she held as a child. She fulfilled her initial dream by winning Olympic gold at the London Games in 2012, before becoming arguably the most influential figure in the rise of women’s professional boxing.

She became an undisputed champion at lightweight and super lightweight and, alongside Amanda Serrano, became the first — and only — two women’s fighters to headline New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden.

She and Serrano then took their talents to Netflix’s mass audience in 2024. The streaming giant enjoyed Taylor and Serrano’s 2024 Fight of the Year contender so much that they welcomed both women back to headline a historic all-women’s card in July 2025, which helped grow the women’s side of the sport even more.

Taylor (left) faces Pili for the undisputed super lightweight title in her retirement fight Saturday.

Now, for her last dance, Taylor will conclude her career at the venue she spent years dreaming of fighting in.

“My career has been more than I ever could have imagined, really,” Taylor said. “I obviously came up with a dream of being an Olympic champion, and that came to pass. For these last 10 years as a professional, I don’t even think as a kid I had the capacity to dream these things [that I’ve achieved].

“Headlining Madison Square Garden on a couple of occasions, headlining on Netflix, headlining here at the 3Arena [in Dublin] a couple of times as well, and ending my career in our most iconic arena, in Croke Park — this really has just been out of this world.”

Taylor is nevertheless limiting how much she engages with the tributes and retirement montages being produced in her honor. She learned from the emotion surrounding her first professional appearance in Ireland, a majority decision loss to Chantelle Cameron in May 2023, and is determined not to allow the occasion to overwhelm her again.

“I don’t like to reflect too much right now, but you can’t have your foot in the ring and your foot in retirement [as well],” Taylor said. “I have a job to do at the end of the day, and I have a real, live opponent in front of me as well. The most important thing on Saturday night is that I get my hand raised — and I’m very much aware of that.”

Victory over Pili would make Taylor an undisputed champion for the third time, providing one final achievement before she walks away. Taylor insisted on creating more history inside the ring in her farewell rather than selecting a more comfortable opponent for the occasion.

Although she remains firmly focused on the fight, Taylor is also being deliberate about appreciating the final week of a career unlike any other in women’s boxing.

“I am enjoying it all,” Taylor said. “This is my last fight, so I’m being very intentional about enjoying the whole week and all the hype and attention of this event. It’s just business as per usual for me. I don’t really think too much about what’s going on on the outside. I don’t even know what’s going on. I’m in my own little bubble here.

“That’s always been the case for me. I kind of lock myself away during training camp. I don’t know what’s being said about the event or what’s going on. I’m not on social media — nothing like that. I just lock myself away preparing for another battle one last time. I’m so excited for this night and just so grateful. It’s such a privilege to be headlining such an amazing event, and I’m certainly going to enjoy this week.”