One of boxing’s fiercest rivalries in recent memory continues this Friday at the hallowed Madison Square Garden when Katie Taylor and nine-time world champion Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano clash for the third time in as many years. On the line is the Bray star’s undisputed world super lightweight crown and bragging rights between two of the greatest women fighters ever.
Taylor-Serrano III comes eight months after the two warriors’ epic rematch before 72,300 spectators at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, last November and more than 50 million globally on Netflix. Taylor earned a unanimous, albeit disputed, decision then after 10 bruising and blood-spattered rounds.
It was an uncanny re-run of their historic first encounter at a sold-out Garden in April 2022, widely considered as the greatest fight in women’s boxing. Taylor [24-1, 6 KOs] survived a brutal mid-fight battering to escape with a split points decision in the first women’s bout ever to headline at the mecca of boxing.
Can Taylor, who turned 39 on July 2, and the 36-year-old Serrano [47-3-1, 31 KOs], whose nine previous world titles came in seven different weight divisions, produce another classic?
"Our styles will always make it an exciting fight,” said the Connecticut-based Taylor in a Fox News interview. “Our first two fights were Fight of the Year contenders, and I am hoping this fight is as exciting. Just for my own sake, I am hoping I can beat her a bit more easily.”
Relishing the occasion, she said that she just wanted to be involved in the biggest fights possible. Telling Fox, “I realized after the second fight this still was the biggest fight in women's boxing.”
Serrano, is no less motivated. She, too, is champing at the proverbial bit.
“We are going to go out there and we are going to put it all on the line, this fight,” said the Puerto Rican. “So, you are going to see who's the true champion come July 11. We both want it just as much as each other.
“I'm going to work hard. She's going to work hard. She has to prove to everybody and to herself that she beat me convincingly both those fights. And I need to go out there and prove to those judges like, come on. What are you watching? So, it's going to be a great fight between both of us. We're not going to disappoint the fans. And like she said the fans are going to be the winners come July 11.”
On what she needs to do different to avert a third loss – disputed or otherwise to Taylor – Serrano said: “This trilogy is granted because I feel like I won [the last] fight. Clearly. I think the world, the millions of people who were watching on Netflix, felt like I won [that] fight.
“Nonetheless, Katie Taylor is a great champion and I can't wait to share the ring with her. Once again, the third time's a charm for us here in New York. It's a full circle coming back to New York and I'm just excited. I just have to be smart.”
She’s added new people to her team and spent three months training “really hard and just tying up those loose ends.”
Yet given the competitiveness of their two previous bouts, their respective skills and fierce determination, Father Time [age] may well determine
the outcome of Taylor-Serrano.
At age 39, how much does Taylor have left in the tank? And at 36, can the slightly younger Serrano take advantage? Serrano’s promoter, the influencer turned boxer Jake Paul, believes so and made a $1 million wager with Mike Tyson on the fight.
Tyson has his money on Taylor.
