NEW YORK – It’s the war to end them all, or so they claim. After two close fights that elevated women’s boxing to unprecedented heights, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will put their rivalry to rest Friday at the venue where it all began in April 2022, Madison Square Garden.
At stake once more will be the undisputed 140lbs championship, though the bout will be fought at a catchweight of 136lbs. But more than any physical belts, the bragging rights of being the one to get the last laugh in the biggest rivalry in women’s boxing history will be at stake. Taylor, the defending champion from Bray, Ireland, won the first two fights, representing the majority of the losses in the 16-year career of the Puerto Rican legend Serrano.
Even if she were to finally add a loss to Taylor’s record, Serrano says she will be done with Taylor after Friday.
“I’m kind of tired of Katie Taylor. We have great moments together, we have great fights together, but, hey, two is better than one, right? She’ll have that and I’ll have one, so she can live with that,” said Serrano, 47-3-1 (31 KOs), at Wednesday’s press conference.
Most Valuable Promotions CEO Nakisa Bidarian – whose company promotes Serrano and will promote this event, which will air live on Netflix – said their first two fights had rematch clauses in the event that Taylor lost, but he noted that there are none for this fight.
Taylor, 24-1 (6 KOs), seemed open to the possibility of continuing the rivalry, however.
“I am taking the third fight, so if she wants a fourth fight, I’ll take it as well,” said Taylor.
“Of course, MVP is paying good money,” Serrano shot back.
For Taylor, who was a gold medalist 13 years ago in the first Olympic Games in which women boxers were allowed to compete, and Serrano, who toiled through the New York club scene at a time when the idea of allocating TV money for a women’s fight was laughable, this is the culmination of a long battle for acceptance. Getting to headline on the largest global broadcasting platform doesn’t come as a handout either, as the two put on one of the liveliest fight events of the year in their first meeting and then stole the show last year in the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson co-featured bout, which was watched live by over 100 million viewers.
The promotion itself has been a victory lap celebrating defeat of the old boxing “truism” that no one is interested in women’s boxing. In fact, Tuesday’s media workout drew large crowds at The Oculus underneath the World Trade Center, while media from around the world have descended on New York City to cover an all-female event that features a number of international titleholders making their US debuts, including England’s unified junior featherweight champion Ellie Scotney, who will defend her titles against Mexico’s Yamileth Mercado, and Australia’s Cherneka Johnson, who will try to become undisputed champion at 118lbs against Shurretta Metcalf of Dallas.
The exterior of Madison Square Garden is lit up with Taylor-Serrano billboards on both the Seventh and Eighth Avenue sides, while the press conference dais illuminates with each boxer’s name and photo. In all, 17 women’s world title belts will be at stake on this card, with three undisputed championships and two unified championships on the line.
Though reporters had their opportunity to ask questions of boxers at the press conference, it was Serrano herself who asked Taylor the most important question of the night: Why take the fight again?
“I’m taking the fight again because I love the challenges,” said Taylor. “I want to take the best fights. It doesn’t really matter to me that I’m 2-0. I just want to take the biggest challenges, the biggest fights in women’s boxing. And after the last fight, this is still the biggest fight in women’s boxing.”
It’s more obvious why Serrano would want to rekindle their dealings. Serrano has won world titles in a record seven weight divisions, but the one feat she hasn’t been able to claim is beating Taylor. She does have gripes about the previous fights, as evidenced by her quip about using her head more – “but not the way it was used on me” – which was an allusion to the head clash that left Serrano with a serious cut in the fourth round of their most recent fight. Serrano clearly still has some demons to exorcise against Taylor.
“I’m always up for improvement. Obviously the judges didn’t see me winning the fight, so something has to change in training camp,” said Serrano, who added rising New York trainer Jose Luis Guzman to her team for this fight.
“I work hard in every training camp, so I didn’t work harder for this camp – but I did work a lot smarter for this fight. And I believe that I can come out victorious. We will come out victorious.”
Even though Taylor is the defending champion, with two wins heading into the third fight, there are some concessions she has had to make. She was introduced first at the press conference, and she will be announced first in the ring on Friday night. Taylor did get a few wins in the fight contract, including keeping the rounds at two minutes in length, which would favor the boxer Taylor over the pressure-fighting Serrano.
Even if Taylor and Serrano don’t meet again until they’re being enshrined in Canastota, there are still ways they can provide closure to their rivalry Friday. When Juan Manuel Marquez walked off with a sixth-round KO of Manny Pacquiao in 2012, ending their rivalry at 2-1-1 in Pacquiao’s favor, few doubted that the fighter with the most conclusive win came out on top of their rivalry.
“It truly will be an amazing feeling when everything comes together,” said the Brooklyn-based Serrano. “And, yeah, to bring those belts back over the bridge will be really cool.”
Said Taylor, shrugging off the suggestion that she needs a more definitive win in their third fight: “I just have to do what I’ve always done.
“I feel like people haven’t seen the best of me, and I can’t wait to showcase that come Friday night. I can definitely make the fight a lot easier for myself. I just can’t wait to step in there now and actually perform the way I know I can perform, and produce the best performance of my career.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
