“It just left a little bit of bad taste.”
Eddie Hearn will revisit the idea of Katie Taylor fighting Croke Park but believes that the money they were asking for last time was “taking the p**s”.
Taylor will fight Chantelle Cameron on the 20th May in the 3Arena, in a blockbuster fight that could see the Irish native become undisputed at two weight divisions.
The Bray brawler was originally supposed to fight Amanda Serrano in a highly anticipated rematch, with the venue hopefully in Croke Park, but talks between the stadium and Hearn broke down over cost.
Tickets will go on sale next week with a capacity of between 8,000 to 9,000, something Hearn admits will cause difficulties.
Hearn said: “I think the 3Arena is perfect [for now]. Obviously we are going to have a problem next week with tickets as we can’t sell [more than around 8,000].
“You will have a lot of upset people and I have it all the time when you have a sellout. So we will have a problem with demand.
“We are unfortunately leaving money behind going to this arena because it holds 8,000 versus 70,000 at Croke Park and there was other options outside there but there is obviously a rugby match [the Heineken Champions Cup final] that weekend as well.
“I think it has worked out well [though]. I would honestly like to say that this is a one-off but I don’t think it’s the last time that we will see Katie Taylor fight in Ireland, for sure.”
Hearn said: “When you are going to negotiate with someone and the cost is three times more than Wembley Stadium… to be honest with you, I think it takes the absolute p***.
“We have done national stadiums, we have done 90,000, 80,000. Numbers are numbers and for three times the cost of running a show there [compared to others] it just left a little bit of bad taste but that is our problem, not Katie’s problem.
“She wanted to fight at Croke Park and we will work to make that happen but what I am not prepared to do is be involved in a fight of that magnitude, with a huge amount of risk and work, for nothing for our family business.
“For me, you don’t go into a show of that magnitude to lose a lot of money. And just like Katie Taylor, we will make sure that she gets the right deal when she fights. It’s the same for any business.”
Related links:
- Katie Taylor chokes up during interview as enormity of homecoming sinks in
- Eddie Hearn meets Conor McGregor about Katie Taylor Croke Park fight
- “Eddie Hearn let’s go” Sinead Kavanagh makes play to fight on Katie Taylor undercard
