Katie Taylor – Amanda Serrano Trilogy concludes July 11 at MSG in NYC

The much-anticipated trilogy fight between female boxing stars Amanda Serrano of Puerto Rico and Ireland’s Katie Taylor is set for July 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

This is the third time they are meeting with Taylor, having won the first two. Some might wonder at 2-0, does Taylor need to face Serrano again. But, the close and some would say questionable scoring of both bouts has led fans to more than welcome a 3rd go-round. And, who doesn’t want to see 2 of the biggest stars in women’s boxing fight? Another significant milestone for this Gotham card is it is an all-female card. 

Taylor, a huge star in Ireland, comes in at 24-1 (6 KOs) with her only loss being a May 2023 defeat to unbeaten Chantelle Cameron. She won back her titles 6 months later in the rematch. 

Serrano comes in as the more experienced fighter at 47-3-1 (31 KOs). She, like Taylor, a very good action fighter. Except for the 2 close setbacks to Taylor, you have to go back 13 years to see her other defeat against unbeaten Frida Wallberg. With 31 KOs, Serrano would appear to be the puncher in the fight, but Tylor has withstood 20 rounds of her best so far. 

The first 2 fights (in November of 2023 and November of 2024) have featured everything a fight fan could hope for. There was non-stop action, power punches, fast exchanges, and controversy. When the scorecards were read after fight 1, it was a razor-thin 95-94 from all 3 judges, with Taylor keeping her super lightweight titles in Arlington Texas.

The 2nd fight took off where the 1st one finished with non-stop action, the order of the day in Madison Square Garden in New York City. After 10 rounds of more non-stop flurries, it was again 95-94 across the board for Taylor. Two fights that were almost mirror images of themselves.

With 2 great classics and 2 close scorecards, it is no wonder they are doing #3. What sparked the trilogy to happen is that in fight #2 many fans felt Serrano had done enough to win. So, while she didn’t get the nod from the judges, she may have won in the ever-important court of public opinion. 

Taylor has been staggered by Serrano’s power in the previous bouts. Serrano had been cut up by the fast flurries of Taylor, although Serrano argued it was headbutts, not punches, that produced the cuts.

Both fights were very close, and it can be a matter of what style you like. Serrano, at times, appeared to initiate the exchanges. However, Taylor appeared to always return fast counter shots that may erase the power punches initiated by Serrano. It may come down to what style the judges see as dominating.

With many people feeling Serrano had done more than enough to win at least one of the fights, will she get the sympathy of the judges in close rounds going into fight 3?

Credit to Taylor who at 39 could have walked away from these fights saying that she had nothing to prove. In many ways, she has more to lose than Serrano, so credit for her completing the trilogy.

And the fighters. How do they feel going into the bout? In recent pressers, both fighters seemed confident and excited for #3.

“I’m 2-0 against Serrano”, Taylor said. “She needs this fight a lot more than I do”.

Serrano for her part was leaving no doubt about what she felt was going to happen.

“I believe I won the last fight”, she said. “The fans saw it. Now I’ll leave no doubt”.

But it was clear that no matter what side of the opinion fence you are on, it is an epic trilogy.

“This is still the biggest fight in boxing”, said Taylor. “We’ve already delivered two of the best fights in the sport”.