Taylor, Serrano excited for historic women's showdown at Madison Square Garden
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When undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor and seven-division titleholder Amanda Serrano meet in their long-awaited showdown it will mark the first time females will headline a combat sports event at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden, whose various incarnations have hosted countless boxing events for more than a century.
In boxing, where hype is the norm, it really is not an overstatement to view their match on Saturday (DAZN, 7:30 p.m. ET and PPV.com) as the most significant fight in the history of the female side of the sport, which is on a major upswing and includes several other outstanding and marketable fighters such as Claressa Shields, Savannah Marshall, Jessica McCaskill, Mikaela Mayer and others.
How big is the fight? Both women will make seven-figure paydays — unheard of in women’s boxing — and even the Empire State Building is getting into the act. It will be lit up in the colors of the Puerto Rican flag to honor the heritage of Brooklyn’s Serrano and the colors of Ireland to honor Taylor.
“When I turned professional, I never thought I would be someone who is breaking down barriers for women,” Serrano said. “I kept pushing, I kept fighting and slowly but surely, it’s coming along.
“We have to fight 10 times harder than the men because we’re just not fighting for ourselves. We are fighting for the recognition, we are fighting for the acknowledgement, we are fighting for equality.”
Taylor-Serrano are both widely viewed among the top few female fighters in the world pound-for-pound and the public has responded to the match. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said on Wednesday that more than 14,000 tickets have been sold and that it was on track to sell out the roughly 17,000 available seats. Garden officials do not dispute that.
“This is like the (Floyd) Mayweather-(Manny) Pacquiao of women’s boxing, but at the right time,” Hearn said. “And it will also be a great fight.
“This fight is bigger than boxing. This fight is an inspiration for young girls and women and as someone with two daughters, I can say to them, ‘Look at what these two have done.’ But it should inspire everyone, male or female, that anything is possible with hard work.”
Taylor (20-0, 6 KOs), 35, will be making her 13th title defense, including her sixth of the undisputed crown, and will be boxing at the Garden for the second time, having won a disputed majority decision over Delfine Persoon in their first fight to unify the four major lightweight titles in June 2019 on the Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. I undercard.
“This is like the Mayweather-Pacquiao of women’s boxing, but at the right time. But it will also be a great fight.” — promoter Eddie Hearn
Now Taylor steps into the main event and is very excited about the attention on her fight, which included the two women appearing this week on NBC’s “Today” show, and the women’s side of boxing in general.
“The atmosphere is always electric at MSG,” Taylor said. “You can almost feel those iconic moments from the past when you are there. There’s going to be a lot of Irish fans in the building. I think it could easily be a 50-50 crowd with a lot of Amanda’s fans too, so it’s going to make for an amazing atmosphere.
“You think of Madison Square Garden, and you think the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier these kinds of fights. It’s years and years later we’re still talking Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier kind of fights. I think years and years later from this fight people are still going to be talking about Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano. … This is just a special occasion for me. This is just incredible and a real privilege for me.”
Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KOs), 33, a southpaw, who is a reigning featherweight titleholder, has fought at various New York venues, including the Garden’s smaller Hulu Theater, but never in the main arena until this fight.
“Being a Latina from Brooklyn, I’m excited to say, ‘I’ve made it.’ I’m fighting the main event at Madison Square Garden! I’m making seven figures, a young Latina from Brooklyn,” said Serrano, who is promoted by Jake Paul. “I never thought it could happen.
“I did a tour (at MSG) there recently and then we did the (kickoff) press conference there. I was in awe of it, and I am so honored to be fighting here. I made history at the Hulu Theater by becoming seven-weight world champion and I won the (amateur) Golden Gloves there too. It’s full circle now being able to be headlining in the big room and following some of the greats.”
For all the attention on the status of the bout headlining at the Garden, it’s easy to forget that it is widely expected to be action-packed and highly competitive.
“These are the challenges that I’ve always wanted,” Taylor said. “I don’t think I’ve ever backed down from any challenge. I’ve wanted to face the very best. Amanda Serrano is a fantastic fighter. She’s a great champion and she’s not here for no reason. She deserves this opportunity as well. She’s been pioneering her own way and that’s why this fight is the best in female boxing history. We have champion versus champion. The best versus the best and this is why this fight is so special.
“It’s definitely a 50-50 fight. I think that a lot of people will have me, and a lot of people will have her before the fight. I feel very privileged to be in this position and to be an inspiration to the next generation and to have those young girls look up to me. I’m also very grateful for the women that went before me – the likes of Christy Martin and Deirdre Gogarty, Lucia Rijker, Laila Ali, who were pioneers in their sport. I don’t think that I’d be in the position I’m in today if it wasn’t for all those girls who went before me.”
Added Serrano, “I hope that we show that we can perform, that we can bring people to the seats, we can bring excitement to the sport of boxing and I’m just hoping it’s not the last time women get this recognition, acknowledgement and pay.”
Photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
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(1) The Serrano sisters and trainer, Jordan Maldonado (Cindy's husband), were once arrested in a police sting for dealing PEDs in various New York gyms - although this was a long time ago it at least shows their characters and that they may still have access to PEDs and PED knowledge.
(2) Amanda has went up and down in weight to capture 7 divisional world titles without the weight losses and additions affecting her performances in any way.
For me the combination of these two facts is a red flag making me very suspicious of Team Serrano. Since there are many PEDs that don't have tests available to detect them, VADA testing won't catch any drug cheat who knows what they're doing or knows someone that knows what they're doing. This happens all the time in cycling and athletics to name only two sports, it probably happens in many others including boxing.