One of the biggest rivalries in boxing returns to Madison Square Garden (MSG) in NYC on Friday night, live on Netflix.
The women’s undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) will defend her titles against Amanda Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs) for the third time in their storied rivalry. Although Taylor is 2-0 against Serrano, the victories were overshadowed by headbutts and narrow scorecards that could have gone either way. Will it be third time’s a charm for Serrano, or is this the moment Taylor puts together a defining victory that would close this chapter of her career?
Who would have known that a fight labeled “can’t miss” could actually deliver not once but twice. The first time was April 2022 when they met at MSG in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,187. During that fight week, DAZN, which was hosting the event, hired the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) to help market the event, giving it a crossover appeal needed to become a massive event. Before this, no fight in women’s boxing was as big as Taylor-Serrano. That would be proven on fight night, when the noise was deafening once the two women met face-to-face for their final instructions.
The fight was razor-thin close, and although Serrano had Taylor hurt badly midway through the fight, she gassed out, allowing Taylor to take over the second half. Taylor would win, but more importantly, that fight was talked about for weeks after their war. Something that doesn’t happen often in boxing, especially during this lightning-fast news cycle era we are in.
The rematch wouldn’t happen until 2 ½ years later, and although fans wanted to believe they would get something that resembled the first Taylor-Serrano fight, it was too big of an expectation to think they could until they did. The rematch was just as good, although it was overshadowed by a headbutt that caused a cut over Serrano’s eye; it was every bit as intense as the first one. Serrano fought on and finished the fight, but she was at a disadvantage throughout, with blood streaming down her face. Taylor won, but everyone spoke about how good the fight was and the courage Serrano showed in fighting through a nasty cut.
Now, eight months later, they meet each other for a third time in hopes of securing a definitive victory. Taylor has reunited with her father, who has been away from her corner for years, as she approaches one of the most important fights in her career. On the other hand, Serrano added a nutritionist, a recovery coach, and a few others in hopes of changing the final outcome in her favor.
Although both women have made slight changes to their approach for this third fight, nothing is going to change the fact that magic happens when that bell rings to begin the fight. They will do what they know best, and that’s to slug it out for ten rounds or less. It may be tactical at first, but after the first few rounds, it’ll be everything we saw in the first two fights. Then the question becomes, who wins and how?
Taylor and Serrano mesh so well stylistically that if they fought 10 times, you would have ten different arguments about how one got the best of the other, whether that is Taylor or Serrano.
With that being said, I think we will see both women give it their all in another close fight. Although Serrano may slightly edge it this time in the hearts and minds of the fans inside Madison Square Garden, I think we will have a draw leading to a fourth fight in the first quarter of 2026.
Per DraftKings SportsBook, Amanda Serrano is the favorite at -175, and Katie Taylor is the underdog at +140.
Katie Taylor: TKO/KO +1800; Decision +165
Draw: +1200
Amanda Serrano: TKO/KO +600; Decision -105
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