It has been years in the making and, on Saturday night, Katie Taylor finally took centre stage on home soil, as she faced down Chantelle Cameron in a huge title fight at Dublin's 3Arena.
Taylor, the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, moved up a weight division to face Englishwoman Cameron for the undisputed super lightweight belt, aiming to become only the third fighter in history to hold two championship belts at different weight divisions simultaneously.
If the matchup wasn't enticing enough, the fact it marked Taylor's first professional fight on Irish soil, and her first fight of any kind in Ireland in almost a decade, made Saturday one of the biggest nights in Irish boxing history.
As we expected, the 3Arena was absolutely rocking when Taylor emerged for her ring walk ahead of Saturday's historic fight.
Katie Taylor ringwalk has 3Arena rocking
This was a day that Irish sporting fans had been hoping for for the best part of ten years.
2012 Olympic champion in her days as an amateur boxer and, after moving to pro boxing in 2016, undisputed lightweight champion since 2019. This was Ireland's greatest ever fighter, finally coming home for one of the biggest fights of her career, only amplified by it taking place in the heart of Dublin.
The atmosphere in the 3Arena was electric, with the crowd seated from early in the evening as the undercard played out. The noise built to a sensational crescendo when the home hero emerged just after 10:30pm for the main event against Chantelle Cameron.
Just before Taylor's walk out, the crowd was treated to a truly special rendition of 'Amhrán na bhFiann,' with the packed out 3Arena ringing with the sound of the Irish national anthem.
Absolutely incredible rendition of Amhran Na Bhfiann. Come on Katie 🥊 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/Yv1NjYr23n
— Ewan (@ewanmac5) May 20, 2023
Chantelle Cameron then made her way to the ring, walking out to Bob Marley's iconic 'Three Little Birds.'
𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝘼 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 🎵
The champion @chantellecam makes her way to the ring 👊#TaylorCameron pic.twitter.com/enu5gGS09E— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 20, 2023
Then, the main event.
Katie Taylor's long-awaited ringwalk took place to the soundtrack of Diddy's 2010 song 'Coming Home,' performed live by Irish singer Sibéal.
Sibéal was backed up by a raucous home crowd making their voices heard in a truly special moment in Taylor's career, with the decibel levels reaching their peak when Taylor emerged in front of the crowd.
GOOSEBUMPS 😱 🇮🇪@KatieTaylor's EPIC Ringwalk For Dublin Homecoming 🔥#TaylorCameron live on DAZN pic.twitter.com/b0bdJQJCnl
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) May 20, 2023
In the days leading up to the fight, Taylor had remained tight-lipped on what her walk out song would be. Judging by the noise from the audience, the 3Arena crowd were thrilled with her choice of 'Coming Home' as her anthem of the evening.
Special scenes.
SEE ALSO: The 3Arena, Katie Taylor, & Roy Keane: Why Ariel Helwani Has Such An Affinity For Ireland
