Ryan Tubridy has joined calls for Katie Taylor’s homecoming bout to be held in Croke Park.
The Bray native, who is the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, will fight Amanda Serrano in a rematch in Dublin’s 3Arena on May 20.
Organisers had hoped to host the match in Croke Park, which would have made it the biggest event in women’s boxing history, but promoter’s have claimed the stadium is too expensive to hire.
Weighing in on the controversy, Ryan told the Irish Mirror: “I think they should make a special dispensation in Croke Park to bring Katie Taylor home and give her the homecoming that woman deserves.”
“She deserves a lot more than an overpriced hall, that is a beautiful hall, but she needs the respect she deserves and that is a fight in Croke Park.”
“I would urge our friends in Croke Park to rethink the rent for one night only because she has served this country and she deserves that fight in that hallowed ground because it is a place in history and she has made history.”
“We should respect her and her achievements and her family and her country. Get her to Croke Park.”
Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn, who is Katie’s promotor, said the event would not be taking place in Croker because “the cost of hire, the cost of everything involved with the event is three times nearly more than staging it at Wembley Stadium.”
The 3Arena will only accommodate around 9,000 spectators, as opposed to over 70,000 in Croke Park.
Speaking at the launch of the GAA’s annual report and financial result, Croke Park commercial director Peter McKenna said: “We would love to have the fight here.”
“The last time we talked to them properly was before Christmas. Our rent was coming in around €400k. I think the rent for Wembley is about £250k/300k (€280-355k). We are not colossally more expensive than Wembley.”
“The real issue here is about security costs, which we felt the promoter should carry. I think the surprise was that our focus on security and attention to detail was far more than they would have expected in a Wembley scenario or Bethnal Green scenario.”
He explained: “You’re talking about bringing 60-70,000 people into a stadium for a fight that’s late in the evening with quite a bit of alcohol taken.”
“We looked at the risk analysis on the event and we felt that the amount of security that you’d need would be at the top level and that is not inexpensive.”
“So I think maybe there’s a worry there they wouldn’t quite get the attendance and also the costs associated with hosting an event at a certain standard, that we would be very proud that we would hold to, has caused a little bit of jitters.”
“The costs quoted are far less than we’d normally charge because we would have loved to have had Katie Taylor. The eyes of the world would be on us.”
