Katie Taylor: How Irish fighter finally secured dream Croke Park fight

Still, 80,000 seats is a lot to move and in today’s environment, only the top heavyweights, plus a handful of other stars including Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Nawa Inoue, can hit those heights.

That Taylor, 39, and his team have the ambition to command such an audience is a testament to the esteem in which he is held.

After Friday’s press conference, the Bray native and the team embarked on a four-day promotional tour around the island of Ireland, starting in his hometown.

It may be a farewell, but a test and not a testimonial is how Taylor wants to sign off.

A chance to regain the WBC portion of the light-welterweight title (which was vacated after Serrano’s win last year) And dream of undisputed retirement.

But he has no designs on letting undefeated Frenchwoman Flora Pillay stand in his way.

The doors to Croke Park were closed three years ago when Hearn and the Stadium Authority failed to reach an agreement, so what has changed?

With the stadium paying “double that of Wembley”, according to Matchroom’s chairman, it was hard to see how the deadlock would be broken.

The company doesn’t have to gain “a great deal financially”, but the rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves at Wembley Stadium in 2014 proved a big night for Matchroom, with 80,000 people at Croke Park doing the same, according to Hearn.

“A woman fighting in front of 80,000 people, I think it’s the biggest moment in our (matchroom’s) boxing history,” she said.

“We’re not going to make a lot of money on the night, but it’s more than that. My dad (Barry, Matchroom founder and president) might kill me, but what does it really matter what we do on a night like this?

“We will never forget what we leave behind and that is important to the brand of our business.”