Five moments that shaped Taylor's legendary career

On Saturday, Katie Taylor steps through the ropes at an 82,000-capacity Croke Park to face France's Flora Pili in her farewell fight.

Victory on the hallowed Dublin turf would write one final fairytale chapter - a chance to bow out as undisputed light-welterweight champion and put the seal on a career that has revolutionised women's sport.

There have been countless moments that have shaped the 40-year-old's journey.

From a childhood letter to a Twitter direct message, these are five sliding doors moments in the making of an Irish icon.

Long before Taylor became Olympic champion, she was a 10-year-old girl in Bray who simply wanted to box.

There was nowhere for her to go though. Women's boxing was unsanctioned in Ireland, absent from the Olympic programme and devoid of any clear professional pathway.

But there was Deirdre Gogarty. Having relocated to the United States, she became Ireland's first female professional world champion in 1997 when she defeated Bonnie Canino for the WIBF featherweight title in Louisiana.

"How did you do it when everyone tried to stop you?" a 10-year-old Taylor asked in a letter sent to her hero.

"If you keep working at it and keep showing your skills, somebody's going to say 'we've got to let this girl box'," Gogarty replied.

Reflecting on the letter years later, Gogarty added: "It's mind-blowing. Especially when she wrote, 'maybe one day they'll let us box in the Olympics'."

Had that letter never been written, Taylor might still have found her way to the top, but Gogarty offered hope when none seemingly existed.

When the International Olympic Committee was undecided on including women's boxing at the Games, Taylor was brought in for showcase events in front of sceptical officials in Chicago. Her dazzling displays dismantled every argument.

"Katie won't say this, and I've been holding back from saying this, but single-handedly, Katie Taylor got women's boxing into the Olympics," her manager Brian Peters says.

Women's boxing made its Olympic debut at the London 2012 Games and Taylor claimed lightweight gold.

Four years later in Rio, however, that amateur journey ended when a split-decision quarter-final defeat shattered Taylor's title defence. She was at a crossroads - rebuild for another Olympic cycle or turn professional in an era where women's pro boxing was still neglected.

"It was probably the worst year of my career," Taylor later admitted. "I needed a change. I needed a new mindset."

Had she secured a second Olympic gold, the motivation to dive into the pro ranks might have evaporated. Instead, the sting of defeat forced reinvention.

Turning professional was one thing, but securing both the right team and commercial backing was another challenge.

First came manager Peters, who initially stepped in out of concern for her future.

"I only took her on not to see her end up with people who didn't know what they were doing," Peters says.

On 4 October 2016, Taylor sent Matchroom's Eddie Hearn a direct message on Twitter, now known as X, asking if he would consider promoting her. Hearn replied 24 hours later, inviting Taylor, Peters, and her mother Bridget to a London restaurant. Hearn even borrowed his father's car to impress Taylor.

The charm offensive worked and Taylor made her debut at Wembley Arena a month later.

In a sport notorious for fractured relationships and bitter splits, Taylor's core team has remained the same from day one with Peters, Hearn and trainer Ross Enamait.

"In a business full of egos, she's stayed loyal to everyone around her and remained the most humble person you could ever meet," Peters says.

Had Hearn dismissed that DM - or had Taylor lacked the enduring loyalty that kept the same tight-knit team in her corner for a decade - the promotional engine that transformed women's boxing might never have started.

By April 2022, Taylor was the undisputed lightweight champion. She had already survived a razor-thin majority decision against Delfine Persoon at Madison Square Garden (MSG) three years earlier to unify - a night when many felt her aura of invincibility was almost cracked.

Returning to MSG to face seven-division title winner Amanda Serrano presented a different magnitude of threat.

Their blockbuster marked the first time two women headlined the storied New York venue. In front of a sellout crowd of 19,187, Taylor claimed a split-decision victory in what was widely hailed as the fight of the year.

Had one scorecard leaned the other way or had the bout failed to deliver on its enormous hype, the momentum behind women's mega-fights would have stalled.

Instead, the victory spawned a record-breaking rivalry. Their 2024 rematch drew global viewing figures on Netflix on the undercard of Jake Paul v Mike Tyson, before Taylor sealed the trilogy at the Garden in 2025.

Taylor's first professional defeat came in May 2023 at Dublin's 3Arena when she was outpointed by Chantelle Cameron for the undisputed light-welterweight belts.

At 36, questions around retirement surfaced.

In the ring immediately following the defeat, Peters says he told his fighter to congratulate Cameron and ask for the rematch.

Six months later, Taylor delivered a masterclass in grit, claiming a majority decision to become a two-weight undisputed champion.

"The pressure was immense," Peters says.

"For all she had done, her legacy was suddenly questioned. Had Chantelle won the rematch, who knows what would have happened?"

Croke Park is not really a sixth sliding door but rather the final pay-off.

After beating Serrano in last year's trilogy decider, Taylor quietly decided she was done.

"She actually retired that night," Peters says. "She said, 'We convincingly beat Serrano - where do we go from there?' I said I'll agree on one condition."

That condition was Croke Park or nothing.

"Croke Park - no disrespect to Wembley - is the greatest stadium in the world," Peters says. "You cut an Irish person and they'll bleed Croke Park."

Peters insists there will be no change of heart - no Cameron trilogy and no comebacks.

"When Katie gives her word, that is it," he says.

Regardless of Saturday's result, Taylor will be remembered as a pioneer who kicked open the door for women's boxing.