Over 20 rounds, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have put together a rivalry unlike anything previously seen in women’s boxing. Their blood and guts brawls in front of massive audiences have raised not only their own profiles, but that of the sport as a whole, and on Friday night, they run it back one more time with Taylor’s undisputed junior welterweight championship on the line.
Friday’s event is, in a way, a combination of the previous two fights. The card will be held at New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden, just like their first headline fight. And it will stream on Netflix, just as the rematch did on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. This time, the card features nothing but women’s fights, several of which are for undisputed or unified titles.
The first meeting between Taylor and Serrano gave the pair a big stage in one of the world’s most iconic venues for a bout that was labeled “the biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing.” The pair then delivered the goods by going all out across 10, two-minute rounds.
Taylor retained her undisputed lightweight championship by split decision that night in May 2022. Momentum swung back and forth in the fight, with Taylor getting off to a strong start before Serrano amped up the pressure to swing things back her way. In the fifth, Serrano had Taylor rocked and on the verge of hitting the canvas, but Taylor managed to survive the round.
Taylor swung momentum back her way as Serrano faded before a wild final round. In the end, Taylor took two official scorecards 97-93 and 96-93, while one judge saw the fight for Serrano 96-94.
“I have my own opinion about the stuff that Amanda has been saying on our team, but the fact is I am 2-0 against her. Opinions are opinions, but facts are facts and you can’t get away from those facts,” Taylor said at the final press conference. “And yeah, I guess I’m just tired of the complaining and the whining from Amanda’s team. I’m going into this fight already beating Amanda and I plan to stay beating her. I plan to stay 3-0 come this Friday night.”
There was only mild controversy at play with the scorecards for the first fight — with the 97-93 card for Taylor seen as particularly wide — but that would change in the rematch.
“I’m never surprised. You just never know with this, we have our breaking points and I guess we were at our wits ends with it,” Serrano said at the final press conference. “And obviously she has her opinion, her team has their opinion. I have my opinion, my teams, the fans, the people who saw had their own opinion. So it’s good.”
While not in the headline slot, the rematch drew even more eyes because of the massive audience who tuned in for the trainwreck spectacle of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson on Netflix.
Biggest storylines to watch in Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3; Edgar Berlanga, Shakur Stevenson returns
Brian Campbell
Serrano again had Taylor badly hurt in the fight, this time off of a big hook in the opening round, and Taylor again managed to survive.
Big exchanges came more frequently in the rematch, but it was Taylor’s head that may have had the biggest impact on the fight. Taylor repeatedly landed headbutts, opening a bad cut over Serrano’s eye, which Taylor continued to drive her head into.
Eventually, the referee was forced to deduct a point for all of Taylor’s fouls, but the deduction did nothing to change the outcome as Taylor was awarded a shocking unanimous decision victory by scores of 95-94 across the board. The decision drew loud boos from the live crowd and plenty of derision online as Serrano seemed to have done more than enough to deserve the win.
In the first meeting, Taylor landed 147 of 375 punches to Serrano’s 173 of 624. The rematch saw both women increase their output, with Taylor landing 217 of 529 and Serrano 324 of 734. Serrano also outlanded Taylor in all but one round of the rematch.
“The final chapter of Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano, the headliner of the most stacked boxing card of the year, with a collection of top pound for pound fighters on this stage like the sport has never seen before,” MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian said. “Two unified championships, three undisputed championships in one night, 21 world titles on the line. All from right here in New York City from this iconic venue: Madison Square Garden, live globally on Netflix for over 300 million subscribers.”
On Friday, Serrano will be hoping that the judges are more favorable to her than in the previous two events, where she only managed to win one out of the six scorecards despite almost every round being either razor-thin or clearly earned by Serrano.
Friday night features four more title fights in the women’s divisions as Jake Paul and MVP puts an emphasis and spotlight on women’s boxing. Ellie Scotney and Yamileth Mercado are set to unify junior featherweight titles as Scotney puts her IBF and WBO championships against Mercado’s WBC. Alycia Baumgardner stakes her undisputed junior lightweight titles against Jennifer Miranda in a featured bout. And a pair of champions at super middleweight look to unify titles when Savannah Marshall takes on Shadasia Green.
Let’s take closer look at the rest of the undercard with the latest odds before making a prediction and expert pick on the main event below.
Taylor vs. Serrano 3 fight card, odds
- Amanda Serrano -205 vs. Katie Taylor (c) +145, undisputed junior welterweight title
- Ellie Scotney (c) -835 vs. Yamileth Mercado (c) +475, unified junior featherweight title
- Alycia Baumgardner (c) -2500 vs. Jennifer Miranda +900, undisputed junior lightweight title
- Savannah Marshall (c) -715 vs. Shadasia Green (c) +440, unified super middleweight title
- Cherneka Johnson (c) vs. Shurretta Metcalf, unified bantamweight title
- Chantelle Cameron -3335 vs. Jessica Camara +1050, junior welterweights
- Ramla Ali vs. Lila Furtado, junior featherweights
- Tamm Thibeault vs. Mary Casamassa, middleweights
Where to watch Taylor vs. Serrano 3
- Date: July 11 | Location: Madison Square Garden — New York
- Start time: 8 p.m. ET
- How to watch: Netflix (Subscription required)
Prediction
While there was a perfectly fine argument that Taylor deserved the win in the first fight, the second falls pretty close to “robbery” territory. Serrano landed more punches and most of the biggest shots came from her — though Taylor did have plenty of fine moments. Both fights were great action bouts, which plays more into Serrano’s strengths than Taylor’s, despite the results thus far.
If Taylor can’t find a way to keep Serrano off of her more effectively than the last fight, it’s hard to imagine that she gets a third win in the rivalry. Serrano is going to want to continue being the bully in the ring and Taylor has had her best success when she’s boxing, not brawling.
The fight may come down to how much Serrano throws caution to the wind knowing she hasn’t won the judges over in their previous meetings. That could go well for her or it could mean she is more frequently out of position and allowing Taylor to escape laterally where she can land counters.
Also of concern is whether Taylor is so liberal with throwing her head around. Serrano fought well through a constant stream of blood but it is a bigger ask to beat a great boxer when you have blood running into your eyes. Regardless, Serrano seems to have the right mix of skill and aggression to beat Taylor and should be able to get the job done on Friday. Pick: Serrano via SD
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