Aiken Promotions

But tell us more about the car accident, because I just know a macro level.

Yeah, so I was coming back from Jim Aitken's funeral of Aitken Promotions, the promoters out there that do the big concerts.

So I come back from his funeral, just a normal sunny day, and a car creared from the other side of the road and hit me head-on, and my car went into a spin.

Now, I was doing about 60 miles an hour, and he was doing about 60 miles an hour.

This was a- an immaculate collection of people in and out.

Aiken Promotions, Irish family-owned business as well, deeply involved.

Like, it was just one of those grand occasions.

It was super.

But it's one of those where maybe that would have felt underwhelming to people, but the whole point of the music gimmick was to ship tickets, and in the end they didn't need to ship those tickets because they flew out the gate anyway because people love Katie Taylor, which caught them off guard, the degree to which that's true.

Yeah, it did in fairness, didn't it? So if you're Aitken Promotions and you're chipping in for this event, which Peter Aitken did, you're like, well, do I have to go get Ed

Sheeran or can I just... call up a few lads from Dundalk and see if they can play boys you owe me a favour exactly I love the Mary Wallopers by the way but yeah

it's like I suppose a lot of the pageantry that was promised wasn't necessary in the end what I found though is I suppose the atmosphere probably from Thomas Thomas Carty's fight with Dave Allen onwards was sort of it was organic I've used that word a lot but like it was just a natural excitement a natural sort of level of enthusiasm across 80,000 people and you kind of didn't need any of the BS.

I suppose my recollection, not so much of the fight, was when the great champ came to Crow Park for the Special Olympics, which was an extraordinary couple of days in Crow Park and all over the country.

But this is going to be a spectacle that Matchroom and Aiken Promotions really know how to put on, and I think it's going to have a great time.

Now, there's also music.

Westlife are going to perform.

It's billed as her farewell fight.

And earlier in the year, Katie was on a nationwide tour promoting the fight in association with Aiken Promotions.

She popped into us at 96FM and she also popped down to the gang, the boys and girls, at Riverstone Boxing Club in Glanmire.

who were just blown away by her.

And yesterday it was no different.

Eddie Hearn was asking the questions of the likes of Katie Taylor, her corner, Aitken Promotions, and the Flora Pili camp as well.

So what was the feeling around the Helix yesterday as we build up to fight week now?

Yeah, as you say, the boxing press conferences aren't very much press conferences as opposed to sort of top tables with Eddie Hearn and the rest of the people that are involved.

I was chatting to the lads on the news round last night and when it comes to boxing there is obviously always an awful lot of emotion involved but when it comes to fight week that's sort of pushed to the side and it's tunnel visioned.

I do think there's been a little bit of an effort for everyone involved to let everything sort of seep in and make sure that they immerse themselves in the occasion.

As you mentioned there Peter Aitken of Aitken Promotions was there.

He's had a pretty big influence in getting this operation to where it is now and making sure all the tickets were sold.

Outside of the clip that we've just played, Matthew, and as a final point to you, anything else that you want to tell us about from that press conference at the Helix?

Well, one really interesting point that stood out to me was when they spoke to Peter Aiken of Aiken Promotions, who's obviously come into this and become a really big cog in getting the tickets sold.

He spoke about the bus tour that Katie sort of did around all the local radio stations around Ireland.

that there was going to be 65% of people who are attending this fight were going to be coming from outside of Dublin 55% actually I think were coming from outside of Dublin so from the rest of the country to attend this occasion as opposed to fight when usually it would be only 45% so there's been a big buy-in for the rest of the country and that points back to what you did hear from Katie Taylor there saying that she doesn't know if there's another country that would be able to sell 80,000 tickets for a female fighter and show how they have so how they have um again that's just one thing that stood out to me I thought it was interesting because there was a lot of hesitation I'll put my hands up I had a bit of hesitation too as to whether they would be able to sell it out without an absolutely massive headline event which could have been Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua was mentioned loosely at the time that might have helped it but the fact that she's gone and done this with an opponent that nobody really knows and an opponent that of course doesn't speak English so has no selling power herself and there's plenty of stuff at the press conferences as you said there'll be loads coming across the socials over the next few days but a decent start to the week anyway we're seeing a bit more personality from Katie Taylor too I think is a point that I should probably get across as well she's a lot more relaxed a lot more calm and that was a big bone of contention in 2023 when she lost out to Chantal Cameron that maybe she did a little bit too much media maybe the emotion kind of got to her she seems to have taken a little bit from that and is still feeding into it a wee bit because she's going to have to immerse herself in this occasion because of the nature of it but it's good to see her I suppose loosen up a wee bit