BOXING CAN’T SHAKE GANG LINK
RESIDENTS of the area around Croke Park might have to something to say about an evening-time boxing match involving Katie Taylor that would attract a crowd of up to 90,000 people.
It’ll be a job for the GAA to get the required planning permission to stage the world championship fight, especially when it has used up its slots to accommodate Ed Sheeran and Garth Brooks concerts. But that’s not where all the problems lie.
There are ways, apparently, of keeping the rain off the ring canvass without obstructing views in this open-air stadium.
Presumably everyone will have to leave the premises by 11pm, which might cause issues for US television/streaming services. A fight would have to start at either 9pm or 10pm, which is late afternoon on the US east coast and not long after the middle of the day on the west. That reduces the financial attractiveness to the promoters of the gig, even though ticket sales would be worth a multiple of what fewer than 20,000 in Madison Square Garden last Saturday produced.
Even if inflation/recession hit Ireland, it can be assumed with confidence that the crowds would turn out. But it is really interesting that Taylor, Olympic hero in 2012, has never fought professionally in Ireland.
The problem is that while she has absolutely no connection herself to any criminal elements, the sport has attracted some of the worst in recent years. The gardaí have not wanted any professional fights in Dublin since the attempted murder of Daniel Kinahan at a weigh-in in Dublin in 2016. They are afraid of members of rival gangs assaulting each other at big fights, especially if drink or drugs have been taken.
Now that Kinahan has been floored, if not knocked out just yet, those concerns have eased. But if this fight goes ahead, expect an enormous Garda presence in the stadium and in its environs.