A spectacularly fit Katie Taylor defied Father Time to defeat arch rival Amanda Serrano for the third time and retain her undisputed world super lightweight title at a raucous Madison Square Garden last Friday. Taylor, who’s 39, boxed superbly on her back foot for most of the 10 rounds to earn a majority points decision in the highly anticipated trilogy match.
Mark Lyson, one of the three judges, scored the contest 95-95, a draw; while the other two, Steve Weisfeld and Nicolas Esnault, both had the Bray star winning 97-93. There were no knockdowns.
The contest seemingly closed the chapter on the most riveting rivalry in women’s boxing after 30 largely absorbing rounds. Taylor, who’s now 25-1 [6 KOs] and trains in Connecticut, had edged the 47-4-1 [31 KO] Serrano, a record nine-time world champion in seven weight divisions, on split points in their historic first meeting – also at the Garden – in April 2022. She triumphed again – in another epic before 72,300 spectators at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and a global audience exceeding 50 million on Netflix – eight months ago.
Taylor-Serrano III was expected to continue the intense and violent fisticuffs that have defined the rivalry. However, having endured 20 punishing rounds with the bigger punching Puerto Rican, Taylor decided to flip the script this time around.
“The two fights previously ended up as complete wars and I came out of the ring battered and bruised and I'm thinking, what? Why am I just standing there fighting like that?” Taylor asked.
“The whole game plan was to not let her feet set,” Taylor said, explaining how she neutralized Serrano’s power, since big punchers need to set their feet before unloading. “I knew I was capable of a performance like that in the other two fights as well, but I just got caught up in a bit of a war [in our first] two fights. I'm so happy that I was able to stay disciplined and just outbox her.”
So, the 39-year-old came in for this third encounter in peak form and put on a performance the late, great Muhammad Ali would have been proud of.
“I think just my movement was causing [Serrano] a bit of trouble. My footwork was causing her trouble and she wasn't able to set her feet. I'm not sure what was going through her mind. But I think I just made the fight a bit easier for myself.
“I used the ring a lot better [this time]. My feet were very good. I felt fresh in there. I felt sharp in there. I [could see] that the punch was coming. So yeah, I definitely felt like it was my kind of fight.”
After a cautious first round in which nary a punch was landed, the pattern was set for the remaining nine rounds with Serrano, the aggressor, stalking the champion and Taylor, on the back foot, counter-punching in spurts.
The first real shots landed in the second stanza. Serrano landed two lefts. Taylor, with the quicker hands, fired back with a right. Then the first flurry, in an otherwise tactical battle scripted by Taylor, came midway in the third. They’d be another brief exchange just before the bell.
Serrano continued to stalk Taylor, but the latter’s footwork and movement frustrated the Brooklyn-raised Puerto Rican, whose punches consistently fell short.
The two-minute long 10 rounds went fast with no change in the pattern. As a spectacle, this third meeting between the two greats failed to rise up to the level of their two previous epics. It was a different fight, tactically.
“[I was] just outboxing her and I'm just happy I was able to produce that and execute the game plan that [trainer] Ross [Enamait] has been telling me to do all along. I thought I showed a very smart performance, a very clever performance.”
Still, Taylor had props for her nemesis.
“I'm just so grateful for Amanda Serrano. What an amazing champion. And we created history together three times. My name will always be embedded with hers forever. I'm very, very, happy about that. What we've been able to create over these last few years has been unbelievable.
“It's amazing to have a rival like that in the sport. And this has brought [the world to] an event like this, an all-female card, because of what myself and Amanda have been able to do to produce over the last few years. Both myself and Amanda are just sitting back very, very, proud right now.”
At age 39 is Taylor now contemplating retirement?
“I don't know,” she said. “I'm just going to enjoy this victory right now and sit back, reflect, and then I'll make a decision and that's it. But very, very, happy with [this] performance and just the amount of work that we put in over the last few months, myself and Ross. It was a grueling few months in preparation for these kind of fights, and I'm so glad I was able to showcase what I could do.”
