Katie Taylor ended her career the way she spent it: winning. The Irish icon shut out Flora Pili over ten rounds Saturday night at Croke Park in Dublin, taking a unanimous decision by scores of 100-90, 100-90, and 98-91 to claim the undisputed super lightweight championship in the final fight of her career.

In front of more than 80,000 fans at the first boxing event held at Croke Park since Muhammad Ali fought there in 1972, Taylor, 40, gave a masterclass. Pili tried to draw Taylor in early, but by the second round the champion was ripping combinations inside, stringing left hooks together and finishing with the right. Through the middle rounds it became a clinic, Taylor simply too fast and too skilled, landing and getting out before the Frenchwoman could set her counters.

Pili had her moment in the seventh, sneaking a flurry through Taylor’s guard and pressing with enough confidence to briefly wake the fight into a firefight. It didn’t last. Taylor went back to sharpshooting off the retreat in the eighth, cracking counter rights while Pili followed her around the ring without landing anything meaningful, and by the ninth the challenger’s push had faded entirely.

Then came the tenth. Trainer Ross Enamait sent her out with one instruction: enjoy it. Taylor sat down on her punches and tore into Pili with flurries of hooks and straight rights to the body while the crowd chanted “olé” through the final round of a 30-year career. She was still trading at the final bell, going out swinging the way she always fought. Ringside analyst Carl Frampton summed up the night in two words: “Incredible,” adding that she deserves it all.

The win adds the vacant WBC belt to Taylor’s IBF, WBA, and WBO titles, making her undisputed at 140 pounds for a second time and a three-time undisputed champion overall, following her reigns at lightweight and super lightweight. She retires with a record of 26-1, her only loss avenged, having held at least one world title in 20 consecutive fights dating back to 2017.

The night itself matched the occasion. Westlife performed before the main event, fireworks lit up the Dublin sky, and the sold-out crowd carried Taylor through her final ring walk in the most iconic venue in Irish sport. The card streamed on DAZN with no pay-per-view charge and aired free-to-air in Ireland on RTE2.

Undercard Results

The heavyweight co-feature between Dave Allen and Ireland’s Thomas Carty was declared a no contest just 1:22 into the opening round following a doctor stoppage, an abrupt end to a fight the Irish crowd had circled.

In the all-Irish welterweight grudge match, Limerick’s Paddy Donovan stopped Belfast’s Tyrone McKenna at 2:33 of the fourth round on a doctor stoppage.

Welsh super middleweight Taylor Bevan spoiled the homecoming for Dublin’s Emmet Brennan, scoring five knockdowns before the fight was halted 36 seconds into the sixth round. Brennan suffered the first loss of his career.

Former UFC fighter Molly McCann moved to 5-0 as a professional boxer, shutting out Sylwia Doligala over eight rounds by scores of 80-72, 80-73, and 79-73.

Elsewhere on the card, Joe McGrail knocked out Matthew Boreland at 3:03 of the fifth round, Adam Olaniyan flattened Matej Hudak in the first, and Bobbi Flood took a 40-36 decision over Jack Swallow. The middleweight bout between Paul Ryan and Paddy Gallagher produced the night’s strangest moment: the decision was initially announced for Gallagher, then corrected in the ring for Ryan after officials said the referee’s scorecard had been misread.

The emotion wasn’t limited to the ring. Eddie Hearn, who chased this venue for years, was seen fighting back tears during Taylor’s ring walk with an Irish scarf around his neck. Shane Lowry, ringside for DAZN, said nobody has transformed their sport the way Taylor has and called it one of the biggest nights in Irish sport. Amanda Serrano, her great rival across three fights, sent her own farewell this week, thanking Taylor for the wars and the stitches and telling her she earned her retirement.