In this renaissance era of women’s boxing, where headlining bouts became commonplace involving some of the best and most marketable female practitioners in the sport’s history, one rivalry has stood out above all.
On Friday night, Irish sporting hero and undisputed junior welterweight champion Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) will take on boxing’s only nine-division champion, Amanda Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs), in the third (and likely final) meeting between two all-time greats and future Hall of Famers.
The fight, which emanates from the hallowed halls of New York’s Madison Square Garden, will also headline an all-female card (8 p.m. ET), which airs live to subscribers on Netflix, and promises to be just as exciting as their first two meetings, both of which ended with a Taylor victory, disputed scorecards and a nomination for fight of the year.
“Those two are two all-time greats and every time they meet, they will just give us a classic,” Taylor promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport told CBS Sports last month. “They need each other and I’m glad that they found each other.”
After the two fighters circled each other for years, their first bout, originally scheduled for May 2020, was delayed due to COVID. After an effort was made to reschedule it three months later, Serrano reportedly pulled out due to what she felt was a lowball offer of $300,000 from Hearn.
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Brian Campbell
Luckily for Serrano, the 36-year-old southpaw from Puerto Rico who proudly fights out of Brooklyn, New York, she became the first boxer signed by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions in 2021, which only helped the long-awaited matchup gain more steam and demand.
When they finally met, inside MSG in April 2022, it became a sold-out affair that produced one of the most raucous atmospheres in the 140-year history of “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” Taylor won a razor-thin split decision to defend her undisputed lightweight crown as a reported 1.5 million viewers tuned in on DAZN to make it the most-watched broadcast involving female headliners in boxing history.
Taylor-Serrano I was considered the biggest and most important fight in women’s boxing history as it marked the first time two female headliners each earned seven-figure paydays and somehow exceeded the lofty expectations for entertainment coming in. But their rematch, last November inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was even bigger.
Once again it was Taylor, now 39, who recovered from being badly hurt to edge Serrano via unanimous decision in an even closer fight on the scorecards than the first (featuring a much more disputed outcome due to repeated head butts from Taylor and the fact that many felt Serrano had done enough to win). Serving as the co-main event to the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson attraction fight that brought in record viewership on Netflix, Taylor-Serrano 2 became the most watched women’s sporting event in U.S. history with a combined purse of $13 million.
For their trilogy, which easily trumps their first two meetings as the new biggest fight in women’s boxing history, will not only serve as the main event of their own Netflix card, the two fighters will split a reported $18 million purse.
That’s not bad for a fighter like Serrano who was long overlooked before meeting Paul (despite the fact that she has won titles between 118 and 140 pounds) and often made championship defenses off of television for as low as $15,000. And even though Taylor earned $1 million for both her 2020 rematch with Delfine Persoon and her lone defeat to Chantelle Cameron in 2023 (before claiming $3 million for their rematch later that year), all of that pales in comparison to what she has received following 20 action-packed rounds against Serrano.
“Don’t get me wrong, when we did Taylor-Serrano I, [Taylor] made a lot of money,” Hearn said. “Taylor-Serrano II, she made even more money. Now, three comes around and she’s doubling it. She’s going to leave the sport financially in a wonderful position and she really, really deserves it. She’s not really about the money at all. I don’t think she spends a lot of money. She’s very consistent and subtle with her lifestyle, she just loves boxing.
“They are both legends of the sport. I’m biased because Katie Taylor is one of my favorite fighters of all-time. For me, she’s the best to ever do it, amateur and pro. But they need each other. Jake and [MVP co-promoter] Nakisa [Bidarian] have done a great job and we thank them for the offer that they made because I never anticipated Katie Taylor would make this kind of money and I’m so pleased and proud that she’s getting the opportunity.”
While having a third fight in a rivalry in which one fighter is 2-0 is rare, it’s more than justified in this matchup considering how well Serrano has fought as the bigger puncher in two hard-luck defeats. But despite her best efforts to put public pressure on her opponent to accept a format of 12 three-minute rounds (similar to men’s boxing), which could give Serrano the opportunity to drop or even finish Taylor after visibly hurting her in both fights, it was Taylor, as the A-side of the promotion, who blocked the suggest for the third time in the rivalry in favor of the 10 two-minute round format which benefits her high-volume style.
Hearn, who has promoted Taylor ever since she turned pro in 2016 after winning Olympic gold in 2012, claimed he has seen many women’s boxing matches using the men’s 12/3 format, including one involving Serrano, and that the results have been less-than exciting.
“They are much more boring, to be honest,” Hearn said. “They were world championship fights, too. It wasn’t as much fun to watch. I always felt that as a product, 10/2 is really suited for the growth of women’s boxing because it’s all action and they throw so many punches.”
Not surprisingly, it was Paul who vehemently disagreed with his rival promoter.
“Katie Taylor just ducked the 12 three-minute rounds, that’s the end of the story,” Paul told CBS Sports last month. “She just doesn’t want to deal with Amanda for that long with that much pressure. She would’ve been stopped multiple times in both fights if there were longer rounds. I think it was smart for her to not want to do that.”
Regardless of the debate, Friday’s trilogy is expected to be just as exciting (if not more) than their first two meetings considering the stakes and how crucial this all-female card on Netflix could be based upon viewership to the future of women’s boxing as a whole.
Both Taylor and Serrano are key players in an era filled with more stars and elite female talent than at any time in the sport’s history. Regardless of who wins on Friday, both could also very well join their contemporary and pound-for-pound queen, two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-division champion Claressa Shields, on any mythical Mount Rushmore alongside legends (based upon one’s preference) like Laila Ali, Ann Wolfe and/or Lucia Rijker.
But even more than the pageantry, the platform or the long-term impact of Friday’s trilogy, the biggest stake in play just might surround the battle of each other and the fact that, although both will be linked with each historically for decades to come, there can ultimately be only one winner. And despite Taylor’s 0-2 record, the dispute over the first two fights brings to mind a similar rivalry in that of Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez, where the Mexican legend’s brutal knockout in their fourth fight in 2012 has led many to believe won him their overall rivalry as a whole despite being 0-2-1 coming in.
According to Paul, that’s the exact mindset both he and Serrano are taking with them into MSG this weekend.
“I do think [a victory on Friday wins the rivalry for Serrano], especially because the fans have always said that she won the first two fights and got robbed,” Paul said. “I do think when she wins, she is going to win the series. People tend to only remember the last thing and I think that’s most important.”