I'll be honest, Westlife are a little before my time but I have heard this song.

They're currently going through 'World Of Our Own'.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Westlife are HERE.

Eddie Hearn
Matchroom promoter

For this country Taylor is arguably the greatest sportsperson of all time.

When I came through the airport today, it’s not just one person, it’s every single person stopping.

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport boxing journalist at Croke Park, Dublin

I’ve been lucky enough to cover some huge fights around the world, but there has been something different about the buzz around Katie Taylor this week.

She is absolutely everywhere. Taxi drivers want to talk about her. People in cafes want to talk about her. And complete strangers want tickets.

There’s admiration for great fighters everywhere you go in boxing this really feels like genuine affection.

And in true tearjerker scenes, Deirdre Gogarty sends a letter back to Katie Taylor 30 years later:

Dear Katie,

As I prepare to come home to Ireland to watch you fight at Croke Park, I keep thinking about just how far we have come.

It has been 39 years since I first walked through the doors of a boxing gym in Drogheda and was finally allowed to train.

Back then, I was told women would never be accepted in boxing. That even if we were allowed to compete, nobody would want to watch.

There was a time when I would have given anything simply to be allowed into a ring. We fought in places with few spectators, little recognition, and almost no opportunities for women.

And now, tens of thousands of people will fill one of Ireland's most iconic sporting venues to watch two women box... wow!!!

What was once considered unacceptable has become something an entire nation celebrates.

Katie, what you have done for women's boxing goes far beyond championships, medals, and records.

You didn't simply succeed in the sport - you helped transform how the world sees it, so that another generation of girls never has to question whether they belong.

When I sit among that enormous crowd at Croke Park, I'll be thinking about all the women who fought when nobody was watching.

I'll be thinking about the girls who were told they couldn't and shouldn't.

And most of all, I'll be thinking about the young girls watching you who will never have to ask permission to dream.

With enormous pride and admiration,

Deirdre Gogarty

Hi Deirdre,

Thank you for writing to me and sending me you profile. Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner as I was doing school exams. I train two nights a week up in my da's club. My da is having his own show in January and he is looking for a fight for me.

I am fed up not being to get fights especially when I see the lads I spar winning championships. There is the European championships for women being held in Sweden in May and my da is trying to enter me into them.

There is an open championship being held in England in April and hopefully I'll be entering that as well. I will let you know how I get on. Sorry to hear your fight in January is looking doubtful (Paddy was telling us).

I hope you can get it on. Hopefully if you get a fight in Ireland, we will all come and see you. My brother Peter recently won the Leinster nine counties and is the reigning champion of the Wicklow/Wexford championship and is fighting in the finals of them again in January on my da's show.

It will be a tough one as his opponent is the All-Ireland champion. I can't see boxing for girls taking off over here in the near future. I can see why you had to go away to get fights.

Hopefully things will change over the next few years but maybe one day they'll even let us box in the Olympics. I hope everything goes well with your boxing career. You have achieved so much already, you have done us all proud. I wish you continued success.

Bye for now,

Katie.

(Tell Christy Martin I'm getting ready for her ha ha)

Image source, Deirdre Gogarty

Talking about inspiring a young Irish girl...

Before Deirdre Gogarty became Ireland's first female world boxing champion in 1997, she already had a fan in Katie Taylor.

A 10-year-old Taylor wrote to her hero in 1996 saying she did not "see boxing for girls taking off here" adding, "maybe one day they'll even let us box in the Olympics".

Taylor is set to retire tonight as one of Ireland's greatest sportspeople, but let's have a look back at that letter.

Image source, Getty Images

This is what Katie Taylor means to the young girls in Ireland who have drawn inspiration from her incredible journey.

Ten-year-old Clodagh Keating is just one of millions who idolise Taylor.

A truly beautiful moment.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Time for you guys to get involved and have a debate.

Is Katie Taylor the greatest sportsperson to come out of Ireland?

If you don't think so, then who is?

'Wonderwall' has just done the rounds at Croke Park.

Class.

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport boxing journalist at Croke Park, Dublin

The atmosphere now is absolutely out of this world.

Europe’s 'The Final Countdown' is booming around Croke Park and my desk is shaking.

I’d say almost every seat is full now. The noise has gone up another level, there are smiles everywhere and that real feel-good energy has taken over the stadium.

And we’ve still got Westlife to come.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Katie Taylor's mum, Bridget, speaking before the fight: "The atmosphere here is electric. I'm feeling good but I'm feeling really nervous too. It's great soaking in the atmosphere but she hasn't come out yet. A lot of emotion is attached tonight.

"Us all being here together makes it easier to calm the nerves."

Jake Paul
YouTuber & boxer on X

I’ve often said what I am most proud of is the work I have done with Amanda Serrano.

Well that doesn’t happen without Katie Taylor. A true champion, an icon, a trailblazer.

Because of your commitment and sacrifice, you are leaving women’s boxing in a completely different place than you found it. It’s been an honor to work with you. Enjoy tonight, enjoy retirement, enjoy life. You deserve every bit of it.

Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano shared 30 incredible rounds across three of the most entertaining fights you'll see and they have the utmost respect for each other.

Here's the lovely tribute Serrano posted to Taylor yesterday on social media:

"We Delivered! Woman Can Fight! (Fan Requested Trilogy) Women Can Sell! (Sold out The Garden 2X’s) We Inspired plenty, now it’s time to sit back & Enjoy what we help build. Congratulations Katie Taylor. You were born for this ❤️"

Image source, Getty Images

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport boxing journalist at Croke Park, Dublin

By April 2022, Katie Taylor was the undisputed lightweight champion. She had already survived a razor-thin majority decision against Delfine Persoon at Madison Square Garden three years earlier to unify - a night when many felt her aura of invincibility was almost cracked.

Returning to MSG to face seven-division title winner Amanda Serrano presented a different magnitude of threat.

Their blockbuster marked the first time two women headlined the storied New York venue. In front of a sellout crowd of 19,187, Taylor claimed a split-decision victory in what was widely hailed as the fight of the year.

Had one scorecard leaned the other way or had the bout failed to deliver on its enormous hype, the momentum behind women's mega-fights would have stalled.

Instead, the victory spawned a record-breaking rivalry...

Image source, Getty Images

Flora Pili comes into the biggest fight of her life a bit of an unknown but that's why we're here to fill you in.

The 29-year-old Frenchwoman has won all 12 of her fights, with two knockouts, and tonight she aims to become undisputed and ruin Taylor's farewell party.

The whole world will know who she is if she manages to pull off the win of all wins here.

Image source, Getty Images

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport boxing journalist at Croke Park, Dublin

With all the emotion surrounding Katie Taylor’s farewell, it would be very easy to forget there is someone standing in the opposite corner tonight.

Flora Pili has quietly gone about her business this week. She's been calm, polite and respectful while the cameras have been pointing elsewhere.

As the Frenchwoman said herself, she has nothing to lose. She has come to wreck the party.