Andreas Hale, ESPN
ARLINGTON, Texas — Katie Taylor retained her undisputed women’s lightweight championship with a controversial and unpopular unanimous decision over Amanda Serrano on Friday night at AT&T Stadium.
The fight was a return bout of their magnificent 2022 encounter that headlined Madison Square Garden that Taylor won by narrow split decision. It was the first time two women headlined at the historic arena, as both earned seven-figure paydays for the encounter, a first in women’s boxing.
Friday’s rematch was one of the most highly anticipated fights in the history of women’s boxing. Just like their first encounter, two of the best pound-for-pound women in boxing delivered a battle that thrilled the crowd.
And just like their initial meeting, the result ended in controversy. Though most of the crowd — and the stats — seemed to favor Serrano, all three judges scored it 95-94 in favor of Taylor.
“This is an amazing moment again for women’s boxing, and we put on a show,” Taylor said. “We put on a performance again for everybody, and just thank God for another amazing night.”
Fighting out of Dublin, Ireland, Taylor was coming off a majority decision win over Chantelle Cameron last November when she reclaimed the undisputed women’s light welterweight championship. Cameron handed Taylor the first loss of her professional career in May 2023, and it appeared that Serrano was close to handing Taylor her second.
However, the judges didn’t see it that way
“I knew it was going to be a little shady, but listen, I came here, I chose to be great,” Serrano said. “I went up three divisions. I lost. I dared to be great tonight, and I went up three divisions. I’m the featherweight champion of the world, and I want to be great.”
Serrano, 36, entered the fight a winner of five consecutive fights after losing to Taylor in their first bout. In her previous outing, Serrano needed only two rounds to stop an overmatched Stevie Morgan in July.
After spending time as the unified women’s featherweight champion, Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs) moved up to lightweight to challenge Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs). Despite moving up in weight, Serrano looked stronger and was more active in the rematch.
“We trained so hard for those moments,” said Taylor. “Anybody’s punch can change a fight in boxing and she’s a hard puncher. She’s a very tough warrior and I was prepared for that. I don’t care if the commentary team or the crowd disagree.”
Serrano started off strong, imposing her will and clubbing Taylor with combinations and body punches. Taylor, 38, struggled to fend off Serrano’s charge and found herself fighting off her backfoot in the early rounds. The Irishwoman steadied herself in Round 3 and attempted to hold her ground whenever Serrano advanced. This resulted in the two woman routinely clashing heads, opening a terrible cut above Serrano’s eye that only got worse as the rounds wore on. With Taylor initiating the clinches, she was deducted a point in Round 8.
Taylor battled her way back into the fight with a frantically paced set of middle rounds, with both refusing to give up ground as the crowd roared in approval. But Serrano was the busier fighter, outpacing Taylor by a wide margin. Serrano landed 324 of 734 punches, while Taylor landed 217 of 529. The judges didn’t reward Serrano for her activity.
With the series now in favor of Taylor at 2-0, the controversial nature of both wins may still justify a third fight.