Emotional Eddie Hearn reveals why he was in ‘floods of tears’ in build-up to Katie Taylor’s retirement fight – and predicts event could be the biggest of ALL time

Eddie Hearn has admitted he was reduced to ‘floods of tears’ watching the promo video for Katie Taylor’s retirement fight, before predicting her final ring walk at Croke Park could become ‘one of the greatest moments sport has ever seen’.

Taylor will call time on her glittering career on Saturday night when she faces unbeaten Frenchwoman Flora Pili in front of an expected 80,000 fans in Dublin.

The 40-year-old will bid to become a three-time undisputed world champion in the 27th and final fight of her professional career, with the vacant WBC title also on the line alongside her WBO, WBA and IBF belts.

And Hearn, who has promoted Taylor throughout her professional career, is already struggling to contain his emotions ahead of the occasion.

‘I’ve got my daughter with me, and we came through the airport, and it’s like every other person knows about Saturday,’ he said. ‘Everyone knows about Saturday. It sounds like everyone’s going. So I just can’t wait. I just can’t wait to feel it, and it’ll be unbelievably emotional.

‘I mean, that promo video… I’m not afraid to say it. When I say I cried, I am not exaggerating. This is a bit embarrassing but I bawled my eyes out. Not like, ‘Oh, a tear came out’, literally floods of tears.

‘I can’t stop thinking about the ring walk. I truly believe it will be one of the greatest moments sport has ever seen.

‘Yes, it’s going to be one of the biggest events Irish sport has ever seen, one of the biggest female boxing events ever seen, but honestly I think it could be the biggest sporting event of all time. It’s going to be one of those events where everyone’s going to go, ‘Wow. I can’t believe it’s happening.’

For Hearn, the scale of the occasion is all the more remarkable given that he once doubted whether Taylor would ever get the chance to fight at Croke Park.

The Matchroom promoter admitted he is disappointed with himself for allowing those doubts to creep in, particularly after previous attempts to Taylor’s dream location had failed to materialise.

‘I’m disappointed in myself, actually, that I allowed that to happen, because maybe we could have done it earlier,’ Hearn said. ‘But I probably didn’t have the confidence that I had going into it this time, with Peter, with the Serrano three-fight deal and all that.

‘If Croke Park had originally gone, ‘Yes, this is going to be massive,’ I would have gone, ‘Wow you’re right’ and we would have done it. But I was like, ‘I don’t know’ and I was thinking blimey, if they’re not sure, do we really want to be gambling with these costs?

‘But, they listened, they helped out as well. They were fantastic in the end.

‘Saying all of that though, I never thought we’d do 40,000 on a pre-sale. It’s honestly blown my mind how passionate the fans are for Katie and how much they support her and show up for her.’

The demand has left Hearn wondering just how many more fans could have packed into Ireland’s national stadium.

‘We’re getting hundreds of messages every day from people saying, ‘Please, I want to bring my daughter. It’s heartbreaking in a way because we’d love for everyone to get a ticket and be there to watch it live but that’s just the way it is.’

Hearn is delighted that DAZN will broadcast the fight, while also praising the decision to allow Irish broadcaster RTE to show the event.

‘I’m so happy that DAZN are broadcasting the fight,’ he said. ‘But I think the RTE thing is incredible as well. I was shocked, but very grateful that DAZN allowed that to happen because I think it’s very important for Ireland.’

And while her journey to the Olympics and gold medal at London 2012 remains the defining chapter of her amateur career, Hearn believes it is what Taylor has achieved as a professional that will shape her legacy for generations to come.

Taylor won Olympic gold before turning professional, but went on to conquer the sport at the highest level, headlining at Madison Square Garden, fighting on Netflix and beating virtually every major opponent put in front of her.

Hearn believes her battle with Chantelle Cameron, including the rematch in which she avenged the first defeat of her professional career, are particularly underappreciated.

‘She won that gold medal, but I think when you look back on everything that she’s done, from starting out fighting on the AJ cards to headlining MSG, fighting on Netflix, you know, and she’s beaten everybody,’ he said.

‘By the way, when you look back, you see Chantelle Cameron beat Mikaela Mayer last Saturday. She’s a strong, big, big, big girl. And Katie’s rematch victory over Chantelle Cameron, I think, is so underrated, especially at the stage in her career that Katie was at.

‘There are so many things. I think the Olympics will always be the Olympics, but there are a lot of people that don’t remember the Olympics or weren’t around in 2012. The younger generation now that are following Katie, I don’t think they’re necessarily reminiscing about the Olympics.

‘These are girls that are eight, 10, 12, 16. They weren’t even born when she won the Olympics. So I think what she’s done in the pro ranks will be remembered forever. Honestly, it’s just everything that she’s done across the board. We are so lucky to have had a fighter like her.’

Hearn also believes Taylor has fundamentally transformed women’s boxing.

‘She changed women’s boxing forever,’ he said. ‘Whether I did it or not, she was going to convince probably someone to do it, right?

‘Now, whether they would have done it the same way as us, I doubt it. But this wasn’t me going, ‘I’m going to try and change women’s boxing.’ This was me going, ‘I believe in you, and I want to come along for the journey.’

‘So what led from there is the doors opening and watching…’

Hearn remembers just how different the landscape was when Taylor turned professional.

‘When she turned pro, there were some weight classes in women’s boxing that had four fighters at a professional level,’ he said. ‘You could fight for the world title in your second or third fight. And now it’s really hard to win a world title. There are some brilliant fighters.’

Perhaps most tellingly, Hearn says Taylor has achieved something that goes beyond titles, records and money: she has earned the respect of virtually every fighter in the sport.

‘There isn’t one female fighter you could find that wouldn’t go, ‘She’s incredible,’ he said. ‘She’s just so loved. And there’s no airs or graces. She’s not there for the fame. She’s not there for the money. It’s just pure – purely a faith, the love of the sport, and trying to set an example.’

Yet amid all the emotion and celebration, Hearn knows Taylor cannot afford to lose sight of the woman standing opposite her on Saturday night.

Pili is unbeaten at 12-0 and, while she does not possess Taylor’s experience or pedigree, she is younger, strong and willing to trade.

With Taylor fighting for her third undisputed crown and Pili seeking to pull off the biggest upset of her career, Hearn insists the retirement celebrations must wait.

‘You know, today really the switch has got to focus on the fight because this girl’s decent,’ he said. ‘She’s big. She’s 12-0.

‘I’m not saying she’s got the pedigree of Katie Taylor, but Katie’s 40 years old, right? She’s fighting a young, strong girl who likes to trade.

‘And so does Katie.’

‘She’s IBO world champion, European champion, decent amateur, who, by the way, can become undisputed herself on Saturday,’ Hearn said. ‘So I think today there needs to be a little bit of a switch from this whole, ‘Oh, euphoric, this is going to be amazing.’

‘I just walked into her BBC interview there, and she was saying, ‘I need to prepare myself for war here.’ Because she can’t walk out and get caught up in the emotion. She can’t get in the ring and the start of the fight just passes you by.

‘She’s got to go in there, and prepare for it to be a war from the opening bell.

‘And it will be an all-out war because it’s the only way she knows how to fight. She’s not going to try and box a moon because she’ll want to leave it all in the ring.’

And while Taylor’s final fight will inevitably dominate the night, Hearn insists the rest of the card has been designed to make the occasion worthy of Croke Park.

There will be major music acts, a host of Irish talent and a series of intriguing fights before Taylor takes her final walk to the ring.

‘I’m not going to give too much away… I want you all to see it unfold on the night,’ Hearn said. ‘But there’s definitely people everybody’s heard of in this country who are going to be performing on Saturday night, and a number of different things going on during the night.’