Taylor, Serrano hit MSG to launch promotion of 'biggest female fight of all time'
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Undisputed women’s lightweight world champion Katie Taylor and seven-division titleholder Amanda Serrano, two of the best female boxers in the world, have eyed each other for ages.
Finally, the fight was announced last week and on Wednesday they came face to face at the host venue, Madison Square Garden in New York, to launch the promotion for what many are calling the biggest women’s fight in boxing history.
“This is going to be not just the biggest female fight of all time, but one of the biggest fights of all time,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said, perhaps overselling it a bit. But his point is well taken.
The fight is scheduled to headline the Matchroom Boxing card on April 30 (DAZN) and will be the first time women have been in the main event at the famed arena.
“Thirteen years I’ve been professional and every other day I have wanted to quit. Never did I imagine making the money I have today,” Serrano said. “I mean, headlining MSG, like what?”
Taylor and Serrano are among the most accomplished female boxers in history. Taylor was an Irish Olympian in 2012, when she won a gold medal, and in 2016. In the pros, she has won world titles in two divisions, having also claimed a junior welterweight belt in 2019.
Serrano’s world titles in seven weight classes — from junior bantamweight to junior welterweight — are a women’s record. Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KOs), 33, Puerto Rican southpaw fighting out of Brooklyn, New York, is also a reigning featherweight titleholder, who will move up to challenge the 35-year-old Taylor (20-0 6 KOs).
Taylor will be making her 13th title defense, including her sixth of the undisputed crown, and 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.
Taylor and Serrano have always been respectful toward their opponents and that did not change when they met on Wednesday as they showed class and appreciation for the magnitude of their event.
‘They deserve this stage, this historic payday and they deserve to settle who is the pound-for-pound best.’ — Jake Paul, Serrano’s promoter
“I’ve had my eyes on Amanda Serrano and this is a fight I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time now,” Taylor said. “This is history right here and all of our hard work is going to be paid off for at this time. I think that this fight is the most exciting fight in the sport, not just female boxing. This really is the best fight in boxing right now.
“We are both great champions. She has a great record and she’s a great fighter. We have seen the likes of (undisputed welterweight champion Jessica) McCaskill and others, but I want to be the best fighter.”
Serrano added, “I am honored to share the ring with Katie Taylor. I don’t need to talk bad about any of my opponents. I do all of my talking inside the ring.”
They will meet at another news conference next week in London.
Jake Paul, the novice cruiserweight, popular YouTube personality and Serrano’s promoter, has done his best to raise awareness of women’s boxing and has had Serrano on his last two undercards. He gave his perspective on the showdown.
“Today is about Amanda and Katie, the two best female boxers in the world right now,” Paul said. “They deserve this stage, this historic payday and they deserve to settle who is the pound-for-pound best, which is why I’m excited to see this fight.
“It’s also about Anne Wolf, Christy Martin, Laila Ali, Mia St. John and so many other legendary boxers that helped lay the foundations for the ladies to be sitting here today. It’s about Clarissa Shields, Mikaela Mayer, Alycia Baumgardner and other amazing professionals currently in the sport. Most of all it’s about the future young women and girls all around the world who will see April 30 as a moment that made the impossible, possible, equality as it’s meant to be.”
Photo: Michelle Farsi for Matchroom Boxing/MSG
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Although Taylor has a year round VADA contract which means she and Serrano will be VADA tested during training for their fight, the combination of there not being a test for every PED and the Serrano sisters', and their trainer Jordan Maldonado's (Cindy's husband), past involvement in the PED scene at gyms throughout the New York area is rather worrying - despite them being caught a long time ago.
At the very least the case showed that the Serranos and Maldonado could get their hands on PEDs if they wanted to, and since Amanda went on to win world titles at 7 weight divisions it's human nature to wonder if these were done with the aid of any PEDs and whether she'd be tempted to use them for the biggest fight of her career.