Keane in Katie's corner but Taylor not expecting ringwalk with hero

The Corkman has publicly praised the Bray fighter several times over the years.

Roy Keane: "That's my hero right there,” says Katie Taylor.

The mutual admiration society that consists of Katie Taylor and Roy Keane is well-known now but the undisputed lightweight world champion doesn’t think for a minute that the Manchester United legend might walk her into the ring in Dublin next May.

Taylor will be fighting on home soil for the first time since early 2016, and for the first time as a professional, when she meets England’s Chantelle Cameron at the 3Arena in what is sure to be an emotional and frenetic atmosphere. It's the kind of event that would surely attract Keane, but not in any active way.

“I’m not sure he’s the type of guy that would want to do something like that!” she laughed at an event to promote the bout in Dublin on Monday. “Every now and then he sends me a message after a fight so that’s really, really cool.” 

Keane, who has praised her more than once on TV, was the first person to call her after her shock defeat at the Olympic Games in Brazil in 2016 when she claimed to be at her lowest ebb.

His respect for the Bray boxer is shared widely in Ireland and beyond. For years now Taylor has been voted the most admired Irish sportsperson: a fascinating achievement and not least given boxing’s relatively low support base compared to the main field sports.

Humble and quietly spoken, Taylor had no answer as to why that should be the case. Or why Keane has name-checked her more than once down the years as someone he admires so much.

“That's a great question, I have no idea, but Roy Keane's my favourite athlete of all time. His mentality is second to none, he's someone I really admired and looked up to growing up. For him to say something like that is just amazing. That's my hero right there.”