Katie Taylor wins controversial rematch with Amanda Serrano to retain super lightweight title
Another super fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, another heavily contested jury decision. For the second time, Taylor defeated Serrano via decision that left more fans questioning the scorecards than praising Taylor’s skills.
Serrano fought through a gnarly cut above her right eye for much of the fight in Arlington, Texas thanks to a series of head punches from Taylor, one of which resulted in a points deduction in the eighth round.
Taylor appeared to be fighting from behind for the entire fight, with Serrano fighting with tremendous precision, but Taylor’s strong finish in the final four frames swayed the judges’ scorecards and earned the Irish fighter a trio of identical ratings, 95-94.
Afterwards, Serrano was clearly upset by the decision.
“She kept headbutting me, but we knew that from the first fight,” Serrano said in the ring. “That’s what they do, not just my fight, she did it with Chantelle Cameron. Listen, I’m a Boricua. I’m going to die in this ring anyway, no matter how many cuts I have on my face.”
Serrano’s signature early fight attack left Taylor reeling from the first round as she connected via a vicious overhand left in the closing seconds. Serrano had Taylor circling on her back foot for the first five rounds as the fight turned into a street brawl – just what Serrano wanted.
Taylor’s combinations came alive in the final four rounds, just as she did in the pair’s first fight, to once again spark the comeback. Afterwards, both women said they would be open to a third fight, but not before Serrano’s trainer Jordan Maldonado interrupted the post-fight interview to say another fight would require better referees.
In the ninth round, Maldonado told Ariel Helwani in a midfight interview: “(Taylor) is so dirty she leads with her head. She’s such a nice person outside, but when she goes in there, she’s so dirty. … She leads with her head, that’s her best quality.”
In many ways, it was a fitting follow-up to their fight in April 2022. That fight was called the greatest women’s boxing match of all time due to its setting and a tightly contested split decision. Friday’s fight was even more spectacle-filled, as the co-main event of a card that was sure to draw a lot of viewers leading up to Jake Paul fighting Mike Tyson.
The fight was streamed on Netflix at no additional cost to subscribers, an unusual forum for the sport compared to the more traditional offering of a single pay-per-view event, although many subscribers complained of issues with the stream being frequently interrupted, a likely sign of the event’s popularity.
It was also performed at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, which made the ring appear small compared to the football field below and the giant screens above.
Taylor won the first fight two years ago by weathering a wave from Serrano in the mid-phase. The 36-year-old Serrano is known for her heavy punches and achieved much more success in the rematch than in 2022.
Serrano, who fights under Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions label, would have become an undisputed two-division champion with the win.
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(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
