UFC and boxing legend Holly Holm has become the favourite to fight Katie Taylor in Croke Park this year

KATIE TAYLOR'S NEXT opponent in for long coveted Croke Park fight may not be Amanda Serrano.

According to sources Holly Holm(40), the UFC fighter, and former professional boxer and kickboxer has jumped the queue to fight the Bray native. 

Holm is the only fighter to have won titles in both disciplines. 

Holm became a three-weight world champion in boxing, with 18 title defenses before making the switch to the UFC. 

Her most famous UFC knockout came against former champion Ronda Rousey in 2015. 

Holly Holm is serious about a return to boxing. And a clash with Katie Taylor is "the one that makes sense." 👀🥊#UFCVegas55 | Full video: https://t.co/EyupjeE9If pic.twitter.com/6UBP9ETIFc

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 18, 2022

Serrano and Taylor's negotiations are said to have hit a stumbling block according to The Independent

Last weekend Holm lost by split decision to Ketlen Viera. After the fight she said that there is a very good chance that her next fight will be against Taylor in the ring. 

“I wanna go back in and show what I can do at a whole different weight class. I never even fought at that weight class when I was in boxing. I think I’m bigger and stronger than a lot of the 135ers", she said

"It’s hard for me to think past my own fight in MMA and my eyes are still on the UFC gold but I will say this: If I was going to go back to boxing that [Katie Taylor] would be the fight that I want and it does intrigue me, a lot."

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has also indicated there has been a number of offers to get the fight sorted in Ireland

Hearn said: "We’ve had some conversations in Ireland."

"We’ve got a lot of aggressive approaches to say, ‘Bring it to Ireland. This is time for Katie Taylor [to fight in Ireland]’. A lot of that support has come from the government which is very encouraging.

The Irish outlet also reported that Croke Park's long awaited Taylor fight could be announced within four weeks.

Holly Holm emerges as front-runner to fight Katie Taylor in Croke Park homecoming 🥊@SeanMcGoldrick1 https://t.co/HFQ2YZKXEO

— Independent Sport (@IndoSport) May 24, 2022