By: Sean Crose
I was fortunate not to have fallen asleep behind the wheel on my way home that October evening close to eight years ago. Cheshire was a long way from Boston and it was way past midnight. Boston traffic may not be as bad as the traffic in New York or L.A. but the roads are so oddly arranged that it can be a frustrating experience even on the best of days just to get out of town. Again, I was fortunate not to have fallen asleep on my way back home well over a hundred miles away. It had been worth it, though. Even on that long dark ride I knew it had been worth it. Tough, but worth it.
For there had been numerous famous faces to be found at the TD Garden that evening. Even though I was disappointed with the arena itself (I had expected it to be as I imagined the famous Boston Garden of old had been. I was also frustrated by the lack of internet at ringside) I was up close to Sugar Ray Leonard, Conor McGregor…and McGregor’s countrywoman, Katie Taylor. The undefeated fighter was taking on Cindy Serrano, whose sister Amanda – would go on to be Taylor’s archnemesis just a few years later – and making easy work of it. Too easy, in fact, for as the fight wore on Taylor made it clear she was frustrated with Serrano not engaging with her. Serrano was clearly losing the fight, after all. Why, you could almost hear Taylor saying, can this woman not give it her all?
It was the first time I had ever seen this ultra polite athlete show a sign of frustration. She was, after all, the consummate professional. Indeed, Taylor has been the consummate professional her entire career. She may be a favorite of McGregor’s, but Taylor is nothing like the brash UFC star when it comes to the personality department. That’s a good part of the reason why – now that Taylor is said to have engaged in her final ring battle – Taylor will be so missed. In a world of bombast, she’s consistently been the fighter to let her fists do the talking. And those fists have spoken loud and clear year after year. Should she remain retired, Taylor will boast a shining resumed of 25 wins against 1 loss – and that loss was avenged in a rematch.
Dublin’s Croke Park was the site of Taylor’s last fight on Saturday. Her opponent was Flora Pili. DAZN was behind the broadcast. The bout was scheduled for 10 2 minutes rounds. The crowd unsurprisingly was wildly in favor of Taylor. While Pili was given the chance of a lifetime by facing Taylor in Taylor’s reputed last fight, she was simply too over her head against the legendary Irishwoman. Phili did good but Taylor was simply too fast, too strong, too experienced and too polished. Unsurprisingly, the judge’s decision went Taylor’s way, as it frankly should have. Pili had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of but the night belonged to Taylor, who retired a three time undisputed champion.
“Let me just look around for a second,” Taylor said afterwards, soaking in the massive crowd. “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you Lord for all we’ve accomplished together. Thanks so much everyone.”
Boxing has a tendency to be a hyperbolic affair times. Fighters are called the greatest when they’re not even close to the greatest. People get wrapped up in the moment. It’s easy to do when you’re invested in a fighter. There’s nothing hyperbolic about what Taylor did however. During an iconic era of women’s boxing, she proved to be one of the best not just of her time of my but literally of all time. The consummate professional to the end. Here’s to a good retirement.
