NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Taylor remembers the minutes before her first fight with Amanda Serrano, when she left her locker room at Madison Square Garden to find a screaming, sold-out crowd that was larger and louder than anything she imagined.
“I think it was probably the longest ring walk in history, the first fight,” Taylor said. “I don’t think it will ever be that long ever again, but I was just trying to take the atmosphere in.”
She and Serrano have fought twice, two of the best and most significant events in women’s boxing history. They return to Madison Square Garden on Friday night to headline the first at the arena for the expected conclusion to a rivalry that has elevated their sport, created opportunities that never previously existed for female fighters, and so far has delivered everything except a Serrano victory.
“I feel like even after the first fight I didn’t think it was going to get any bigger than that, but here we are,” Taylor said. “This fight is even bigger than the last two and to be headlining such a huge card, to be headlining an all-female card is an absolute privilege. It’s an amazing situation and these are the kind of nights that I actually dreamt of as a kid, to be in this position and headlining a big show like this.”
Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs), the 2012 Olympic gold medalist from Ireland, will again be defending her super lightweight titles against Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs), the seven-division world champion from Puerto Rico who is based in nearby Brooklyn, on the card that will stream on Netflix.
Taylor was still fighting at 135 pounds when she edged Serrano by split decision in their first fight on April 30, 2022. She won a last November, when they fought in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium before Jake Paul’s victory over Hall of Famer Mike Tyson.
Serrano was more disappointed by the latter result, knowing the first fight could have gone either way but believing she had done more than enough to win the second — especially after Taylor was docked a point for a headbutt that forced Serrano to deal with a bloody gash for the remainder of the bout.
“Obviously the judges didn’t see me winning the fight, so something has to change and I’m all up for that,” Serrano said. “That’s what we did in training camp. I’m going to use my head — but not the way it was used on me — but I’m just going to be smarter.”
It seems hard to recall now, but organizers weren’t sure how big a women’s boxing match could be before the first Taylor-Serrano fight. Preliminary plans were to stage the bout in MSG’s smaller Theater venue before deciding it belonged in the big room, though they weren’t going to have it fully opened until ticket demand showed they needed to make every seat available.
There is no doubt now, not after they drew nearly 20,000 fans that night and the Tyson-Paul card had 108 million live viewers on Netflix, many of them knowing that Serrano-Taylor, not the heavily hyped main event, had been the highlight of the show.
This card features some of the top fighters in women’s boxing, including 130-pound champion Alycia Baumgardner (15-1, 7 KOs) against unbeaten Jennifer Miranda (12-0, 1 KO), who is also an actress in Spain; and Savannah Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs), whose only loss is to women’s superstar Claressa Shields, in a super middleweight unification match against Shadasia Green (14-1, 11 KOs).
It’s so deep that Chantelle Cameron (20-1, 8 KOs), who handed Taylor her only loss, isn’t even on the main portion of the card that features three undisputed title fights.
“I think anyone, if you give them a pen and paper to write their dream venue, and what Katie and Amanda represent of themselves, just as humans not just boxers, it’s a blessing to be a part of it,” said England’s Ellie Scotney (10-0), who takes on Mexico’s Yamileth Mercado (24-3, 5 KOs) in a 122-pound title fight.
Taylor and Serrano have a respectful relationship and soaked in the applause arm-in-arm after their first fight. But they appear to be tiring of each other as they reach their trilogy fight, with Serrano saying Taylor to fight this match with three-minute rounds, rather than the two-minute format that is standard in most sanctioned women’s bouts.
Taylor is aggravated about the way Serrano reacted in the aftermath of the second fight — “I guess I’m just sick of the complaining and whining from your team,” she said during their news conference — and annoyed by some of the demands from Serrano’s Most Valuable Promotions team. She agreed to a contract weight of 136 pounds, four below the limit, and to let Serrano walk to the ring second, which is the champion’s spot.
“It’s a bit embarrassing, I think,” Taylor said. “She’s not the champion, but it doesn’t matter.”
Still, the 39-year-old Taylor wouldn’t rule out a potential fourth fight. The 36-year-old Serrano, though, is ready for other things.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I’m kind of tired of Katie Taylor.”
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