By Jake Donovan
Katie Taylor entered 2019 with a specific plan for her next three fights—collect a third lightweight belt; fully unify the division; and enter a superfight with Amanda Serrano.
Often, two outta three ain’t bad, although it depends on the viewpoint.
The 2012 Olympic Gold medalist from Dublin, Ireland looks to become boxing’s third current undisputed world champion in Saturday’s clash with Belgium’s Delfine Persoon for all of the lightweight marbles. Their fight comes in supporting capacity to England’s Anthony Joshua’s defense of his heavyweight titles versus Andy Ruiz live on DAZN from New York City’s Madison Square Garden, marking the unbeaten Brit’s U.S. debut.
The only two fully-belted champions in the sport are also on the female side of the tracks, with Cecilia Braekhus and Claressa Shields possessing all of the prime real estate at welterweight and middleweight, respectively.
Taylor (13-0, 6KOs) collected her third lightweight title with a 9th round stoppage of Rose Volante in her most recent start this past March in Philadelphia, Penn. The DAZN-streamed bout came two months after Serrano (36-1-1, 27KOs) made her platform debut in stunning fashion, vanquishing Eva Voraberger in just 35 seconds to claim a 115-pound title this past January in New York City.
The win extended her own records—the only female boxer in history to win titles in seven weight division, and the only boxer ever (male or female) from Puerto Rico to win major titles in five or more weight classes.
It was also the first of a three-fight agreement Serrano signed with DAZN late last year, shortly after her older sister Cindy—a former featherweight titlist—dropped a 10-round decision to Taylor last October. The contract length was specific to give Serrano and Taylor two fights each before leading to a super fight later this year.
Taylor is days away from her second fight—her second straight unification bout, this one for the undisputed lightweight championship. Whether she gets to stick to her original 2019 agenda for a third fight coming versus Serrano remains to be seen. It’s dependent not only on a win this Saturday, but also whether all promises made are promises kept.
“Lou DiBella signed a contract for Amanda Serrano to fight Katie Taylor. Now they want to back out of that contract,” Eddie Hearn, Taylor’s promoter claimed to BoxingScene.com’s Rahim Davies during a recent video interview in New York City. “So we’ll see what happens with that fight. It’s a big fight. First things first, she’s got to get through this fight.”
While that may be first, what is supposed to be next is a second fight for Serrano which hasn’t yet been offered in order to get her to a fight with Taylor.
“I was offered [three] fights by [promoter] Lou DiBella for Eddie Hearn and DAZN USA,” stated Serrano, or whomever is responsible for handling her verified social media account. “I gladly said yes [be]cause I want the fight [with] Katie & [i]t’s the fight all fans want [to] see. I NEVER received ANY agreement letter from LOU. Only my 1st Fight contract. Let’s make this fight & stop talking [s***], guys.”
The reason for that, perhaps, is because there has only been one fight on which to agree—the one she had earlier this year.
Once a second fight is formally offered and agreed to, the Brooklyn-based pound-for-pound entrant hopes from there can come one of the biggest fights to be made at least on the female side of the sport.
“Any girl in the sport would fight each other for the right purse,” insists Serrano. “I’m willing to do it this Year! Let’s just make the right offer for the biggest fight & let’s go. She’s getting good money why can’t I? It takes two to tango. Be fair!”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
