Katie Taylor has admitted that she would love to rematch Amanda Serrano in Ireland after edging a thrilling contest in New York on Saturday night.
In the first-ever women's boxing main event in 143 years at Madison Square Garden, Taylor and Serrano put on a fight for the ages for Taylor's four world lightweight belts.
Serrano badly hurt the champion in the middle rounds and at one point looked like she was going to get the stoppage, but Taylor displayed remarkable toughness to see out the storm and end the clash trading leather with her heavier-hitting opponent.
Taylor ultimately prevailed by split-decision - winning 97-93 and 96-93 on two scorecards with Serrano getting a 96-94 verdict - and the legendary Irishwoman now hopes to finally fight as a professional at Croke Park later in the year.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Taylor said: "You know everyone was saying come into this fight that it was the biggest fight in women's boxing history, but I think it actually exceeded everything people were talking about.
"This weekend and even walking down to the ring today just looking at a packed stadium, unbelievable stuff. This was absolutely a special, special moment. The best night of my career for sure. I wasn't sure anything could reach my Olympic gold medal moment, but tonight was absolutely the best moment of my career.
"A rematch would be absolutely phenomenal, and if it was in Dublin we could sell-out Croke Park I'd say, 90,000 people. That would be unbelievable. We've seen something special here tonight. Imagine fighting in front of 80,000 or 90,000 people in Croke Park. Absolutely that can happen."
Earlier in the night, Liam Smith ensured that he would remain at world level in the light-middleweight division after stopping Jessie Vargas in the 10th round, the Liverpudlian using his superior strength and power to his advantage against the former welterweight world champion.
Darren Plant
