If Katie Taylor is to get a Croke Park farewell, Christina Desmond wants to help her say goodbye.
The Cork native admits it would be an honour to populate such a card alongside the trailblazer and is confident she could play a part.
The Macrom graduate, who extended her unbeaten start at the National Stadium last weekend, believes her loyal support would go a long way to filling some of the 80,000-plus seats on offer.
“That would be amazing,” she said when asked about the chance of featuring on the rumoured Autumn fight night. “If I could get on that show and bring a crowd from Cork and Waterford, it would be fantastic.
“I have huge support… I have ones that have been to all my fights. I’m so lucky to have them.”
“To walk out there into a ring that Katie Taylor is going to finish her career on, it would be just fantastic. Something you can tell your grandkids.”
Despite admitting she doesn’t naturally push herself into the spotlight, this is one opportunity she isn’t shy about chasing.
“I’m quite a quiet person overall when it comes to my boxing… but if they are looking at boxers, I’d love to be one of them on the undercard.”
That quiet confidence is being built the right way—fight by fight, round by round. She banked six more stanzas against the always tough Bojana Libiszewska. The 29-year-old did push for a finish, applying pressure on a fighter who was last stopped by Shauna Browne, although she was content to have been brought to the final bell.
“I’m not panicking over getting stoppages at this moment. I want to get the rounds in and I want to get my improvements in.
“She is a girl that has gone rounds with some of the best in the world… she did not react to some of the punches.”
Rather than frustration, Desmond took reassurance from the performance.
“It’s amazing that I can get in with girls like that and still put them under pressure… it kind of proves the levels that you want to be at as a professional boxer.”
Desmond did look extremely impressive against the Pole, her amateur pedigree on display and preparation has also played its part. A recent trip to New York added a different dimension to her camp, exposing her to an “old school” environment filled with driven fighters.
“The gyms over there are just fantastic, old school… so many athletes around you all working on their own thing. I came back then for two weeks of solid training… and we’re happy with how it went.”
Beyond the immediate excitement, Desmond is also aware of the bigger picture. As one of the few female professionals to emerge from Cork, she understands the influence she can have.
“To be one of the only female fighters coming out of Cork as a professional is fantastic… there are a good few coming up amateur.
“If I could influence one or two people, girl or boy, to stay at sport and keep at what they’re doing, it’d be fantastic.”
For now, the future remains open—but Desmond is ready for whatever comes next.
“I’m here and waiting… I go with the flow. Whatever is there, I’ll take it.”
If that next step leads to Croke Park, she won’t just be showing up—she’ll be arriving with a purpose, a following, and the belief that she belongs on Irish boxing’s biggest stage