For Louth councillor and boxing pundit Eric Donovan, being part of RTÉ’s commentary team for Katie Taylor’s farewell fight at Croke Park was more than just another assignment. It was, he says, “a dream job.”
The Drogheda-based councillor was ringside as Taylor brought the curtain down on one of the most influential careers in boxing history, describing the occasion as one of the most remarkable sporting events he has ever witnessed.
“I was as close as you can get, it was magic,” the Kildare native said. “It was like a curtain falling on an era of incredible success and boundary breaking, iconic boxing.”
The Bray native had, he said, “achieved everything she could have possibly aimed for in the sport” and had already begun to think about retiring before the Croke Park event began to materialise.
“She has left an incredible legacy, and I know that although she has boxed in some of the world’s top arenas, Croke Park was on her bucket list, it meant so much to her, you could feel that.”
The former ECU super featherweight champion also welcomed RTÉ’s coverage of the fight, saying it allowed people across Ireland to share in the occasion.
“RTE don’t air that many professional boxing matches, so it was brilliant they had Katie’s fight. It was a big one, the country got to watch it, and that was really important.”
He added: “The atmosphere was just electric, I really have never seen anything like it. Everyone has a real vested interest in Katie.”
“She paved the way. I know Deirdre Gogarty was one of the original trailblazers who forged the path less travelled, but Katie picked up the baton and smashed so many glass celiings.”
Katie Taylor had the “extraordinary ability to capture the imagination of people from across the world,” he added.
“We haven’t seen the likes of the almost legislative change for women’s boxing that Katie brought forward.
She has done it all, she won every belt she aimed for, and she did while bringing all of us with her. She’s just an extraordinary person, and I feel so privileged that I got to be there for her last fight.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme