Ireland’s own Katie Taylor is set to defend her WBA,WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles against Amanda Serrano on April 30 in what is being described as the “biggest fight ever in women’s boxing.” The pound-for-pound #1 and #2 are set to trade blows at the Madison Square Garden – the first female main event to ever be staged at the iconic arena.
Making history at every turn, both Taylor and Serrano will receive seven-figure payouts for their efforts, a sum unheard of in the female fight game. Co-promoters Eddie Hearn and YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul have already shared the pre-sale ticket success, which became the second-fastest in the history of Madison Square Garden. Only one fight has garnered more pre-sale interest and that was the meeting of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and David Lemieux back in 2015.
In her previous fight, which took place December 11nd, Taylor defended her many boxing titles against determined challenger Firuza Sharipova in a well earned victory. The Bray legend steadily outpointed the Kazakhstani via unanimous decision (98-92, 97-92, 96-93) to preserve her unbeaten record, but it was by no means a walk in the park. “I wouldn’t say it was a masterclass by any means, but a win is a win at the end of the day,” Taylor told The MMA Hour. “It sets up a huge year for me next year and I’m actually excited to go into the new year with these big fights ahead. I think it could be possibly the biggest year in female boxing history.”
Flash forward a few months, and all seems to be going to plan. Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano was made official on January 27th. A bonafide superfight if there ever was one; both women are leaps and bounds ahead of the pack, masters of their craft. Serrano is Taylor’s most recognised and decorated opponent since the Irish superstar turned professional in 2016. The Puerto Rican is a seven-division world champion, having held gold in the super-featherweight, junior-featherweight, featherweight, lightweight, bantamweight, light-welterweight and junior-bantamweight divisions. Serrano is currently on a 28-fight win streak since suffering the only loss of her career in 2012. Her last fight was in December: a unanimous decision win against Spaniard Miriam Gutierrez, a former opponent of Taylor’s.
Speaking at their London press conference in February, it’s clear Serrano has plenty of admiration for Taylor, saying, “I don’t want to disrespect the Irish fans, but Katie Taylor is a great champion and she’s been a great champion for a while. But one of my goals is to become undisputed (lightweight) champion, that is my goal come April 30 – to become the undisputed champion.”
At the same press conference, Taylor admitted that the fight will probably top her triumph at the London 2012 Olympic Games in terms of the magnitude of the achievement. “The Olympic gold is always very special, but I think this moment will be the biggest moment of my career so far.” Along with overcoming Serrano, another long standing ambition of Taylor’s is to fight in Dublin before hanging up her gloves. “I hope so, but that’s unfortunately not down to me,” she told the media, “that’s down to the likes of Eddie Hearn (chairman of Matchroom, which has promoted Taylor since she turned professional in 2016.) It’ll be a shame if I went through my whole career without fighting in Ireland.” For his part, Hearn has claimed to be always open to the idea of staging a bout on Irish soil, telling the Irish Independent last year, “I really believe that the fight in Ireland is inevitable. She is the absolute boss and I’m petrified of her. So, basically, I do whatever she says, and I know she wants to do it.”
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. A homecoming fight would be a fitting end to storied career, not to mention a chance for Irish fans to finally see the uncrowned queen of Ireland do what she does best. However, come April 30, New York will have no issue bringing out the Irish diaspora to cheer on Taylor. And, who knows, perhaps a Serrano trilogy is on the cards, and I couldn’t think of a better place than Dublin to see out that rivalry.
