Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano

Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano, billed as For History, was a women's lightweight professional boxing match contested between the undisputed world champion Katie Taylor and seven-division world champion Amanda Serrano. The bout was held on April 30, 2022, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with Taylor's undisputed lightweight titles on the line.[1][2]

For History
The official poster for Taylor vs Serrano
The official poster for Taylor vs Serrano
DateApril 30, 2022
VenueMadison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineWBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Katie Taylor Amanda Serrano
Nickname KT The Real Deal
Hometown Bray, Ireland Carolina, Puerto Rico
Pre-fight record 20–0 (6 KO) 42–1–1 (30 KO)
Height 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) 5 ft 5+12 in (166 cm)
Weight 134.6 lb (61 kg) 133.6 lb (61 kg)
Style Orthodox Southpaw
Recognition WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight champion
The Ring No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
2-division world champion
WBC and WBO featherweight champion
The Ring No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
7-division world champion
Result
Taylor wins via 10-round split decision (94-96, 97-93, 96-93)

It was the first women's boxing match to headline Madison Square Garden, and was described as the 'biggest women's fight of all time'.[3] Taylor defeated Serrano by split decision.[4] Considered one of the greatest female fights of all time, the bout received universal acclaim, being named Fight of the Year by Sports Illustrated[5] and Event of the Year by The Ring.[6]

Background

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Katie Taylor made her professional debut in November 2016 following a decorated amateur career that included a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. At that time, Amanda Serrano was already a four-weight world champion with a record of 30–1–1. Over the next three years, both women would see continued success. Serrano earned titles in three more weight classes to become a seven-weight world champion, the second most of any boxer in history, only behind Manny Pacquiao. She also began a career in mixed martial arts, compiling a professional record of 2–0–1. Meanwhile, Taylor would become a world champion within a year of her debut, and eventually claimed all four divisional titles to become the undisputed lightweight champion. She then became a two-weight champion by defeating Christina Linardatou at super-lightweight.

The two were first scheduled to fight each other at the Manchester Arena on May 2, 2020, which would have been the first defence for Taylor as undisputed lightweight champion.[7] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bout was postponed and rescheduled to 4 July, with the venue changing to the Matchroom Sport headquarters in Brentwood, Essex. After being postponed for a second time, Taylor’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed he was in talks to secure a rematch between Taylor and Delfine Persoon, who Taylor had narrowly beaten to become the undisputed lightweight champion on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr.[8] On July 9, it was confirmed that the Taylor vs. Persoon rematch would take place on August 22 on the undercard of Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin.[9] Taylor won the fight by unanimous decision.[10] Over the next 16 months, both Taylor and Serrano would win another four fights, taking their records to 20–0 and 42–1–1 respectively.

On January 27, 2022, the bout was officially announced to be taking place on 30 April 2022 at Madison Square Garden. The fight was co-promoted by Hearn's Matchroom Boxing and Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions, who are the respective promoters of Taylor and Serrano, and was broadcast live on DAZN.[11] Following the official announcement of the fight, press conferences were held in New York City and London to promote the bout.

During the London press conference, Serrano, citing the historic nature of the contest, suggested that the fight be 12 three-minute rounds, as is the case in men's world championship boxing, rather than the women's standard of 10 two-minute rounds. Taylor dismissed this idea, saying ”I don't think it will make a huge difference to the event; it's already iconic as it is.”[12]

Taylor already held a victory over Amanda's sister Cindy, having defeated her by unanimous decision in October 2018.[13]

Weigh-in

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The weigh-in took place at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden and was heavily attended by fans from Ireland and Puerto Rico. As part of a promotional agreement with WWE, Serrano was announced to the stage by the Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair, while Taylor was introduced by her compatriot Becky Lynch.

Both fighters weighed in comfortably under the 135-pound lightweight limit, with Serrano at 133.6 pounds and Taylor at 134.6 pounds.[14]

Fight card

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Weight Class vs. Method Round Time Notes
Lightweight  Katie Taylor (c) def.  Amanda Serrano SD 10/10 Note 1
Super Welterweight  Liam Smith def.  Jessie Vargas TKO 10/12 0:41
Super Middleweight  Franchón Crews-Dezurn (c) def.  Elin Cederroos (c) UD 10/10 Note 2
Flyweight  Galal Yafai (c) def.  Miguel Cartagena RTD 2/10 3:00 Note 3
Middleweight  Austin Williams def.  Chordale Booker TKO 1/10 2:25 Note 4
Super Lightweight  Reshat Mati def.  Joe Eli Hernandez UD 8/8
Featherweight  Skye Nicolson def.  Shanecqua Paisley Davis UD 6/6
Light Heavyweight  Khalil Cole def.  William Langston UD 6/6

^Note 1 For WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles

^Note 2 For WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO Super Middleweight titles

^Note 3 For WBC International Flyweight title

^Note 4 For vacant WBA Continental Americas Middleweight Title

Rematch

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Following Serrano becoming the undisputed featherweight champion with a victory over Erika Cruz, the rematch was set to take place on May 20 in the 3Arena in Dublin.[15] However, in late February it was announced that Serrano would not be able to make the date due to damage suffered in the fight with Cruz.[16]

On April 16, 2024, Netflix announced that the rematch would take place on July 20 for the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super-lightweight titles, as the co-feature bout to Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson.[17] The event would end up being rescheduled to take place on November 15, 2024.[18] Taylor won the fight with a score of 95-94 on all three judges cards. [19]

References

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  1. ^ Stumberg, Patrick L. (January 27, 2022). "Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano official for April 30th at Madison Square Garden". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  2. ^ "Boxing News: Taylor-Serrano clash set for April 30 at MSG » February 9, 2022". fightnews.com. January 27, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  3. ^ "Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano is the biggest women's fight of all time, worthy of a place in Madison Square Garden history | DAZN News US". DAZN. January 28, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  4. ^ "Katie Taylor retains undisputed lightweight title after Amanda Serrano win – as it happened". Guardian. May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano Is Sports Illustrated's Fight of the Year". Sports Illustrated. December 28, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  6. ^ "2022 EVENT OF THE YEAR: KATIE TAYLOR-AMANDA SERRANO". The Ring. January 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  7. ^ "Katie Taylor to fight Amanda Serrano at Manchester Arena on 2 May". 6 March 2020.
  8. ^ Donovan, Jake (June 29, 2020). "Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano: Situation Continues To Get Heated". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  9. ^ "Katie Taylor to face Delfine Persoon in rematch on 22 August". BBC Sport. July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  10. ^ "Katie Taylor retains world titles after beating Delfine Persoon in rematch". The Irish Times. August 22, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020. ...was gracious in defeat and felt Taylor had done enough to retain her WBC, IBF, WBO and WBA titles.
  11. ^ "Confirmed: Katie Taylor to take on Amanda Serrano this April in 'biggest female fight of all time'". 27 January 2022. January 27, 2022.
  12. ^ "Katie Taylor Turns Down Amanda Serrano's 12 Three-Minute Rounds Proposal For Title Unification Bout". Boxing Scene. February 8, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  13. ^ "Katie Taylor dominates Cindy Serrano to retain titles". 20 October 2018. October 21, 2018.
  14. ^ "KATIE TAYLOR VS. AMANDA SERRANO WEIGH-IN RESULTS: HISTORY-MAKING HEADLINERS MAKE UNDISPUTED TITLE FIGHT OFFICIAL". DAZN. April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  15. ^ Mike Heck (February 5, 2023). "Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 2 set for May 20 in Dublin". mmafighting.com.
  16. ^ Jesse Holland (February 28, 2023). "Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano rematch scrapped following injury to 'Real Deal'". mmamania.com.
  17. ^ "Taylor, Serrano get 'dream come true' rematch". ESPN.com. April 16, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  18. ^ "Paul-Tyson, Taylor-Serrano moved to Nov. 15". ESPN.com. June 7, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  19. ^ "Netflix, Paul-Tyson". ESPN.com. November 24, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
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