Katie Taylor not only narrowly defended her world championship belt at the spectacle in Madison Square Garden. The Irish woman also made a mark for all female boxers in the world with opponent Amanda Serrano.
The legendary Madison Square Garden boiled as Katie Taylor jumped onto the ring ropes and cried out her delight. The makeshift laceration above the Irish boxing queen’s right eye was evidence of a spectacular ten rounds, at the end of which Taylor remained the undisputed world champion, but all other female boxers in the world had also won.
“Look what we just did!” exulted a weary Taylor (35) minutes after her narrow points win over Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano to retain her WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO lightweight titles : “We sold out Madison Square Garden. The biggest fight in women’s boxing history.”
Germany’s former model boxer Regina Halmich also underlined as an expert on DAZNMicrophone the importance of the moment: “It was the hoped-for advertising for women’s boxing and exceeded all expectations,” said the 45-year-old. And she wasn’t wrong. In the first main fight between two women in the 140-year history of the “Garden” in New York, the two fighters put on a top-class show in front of 19,187 spectators.
Taylor, who despite her titles had been viewed by some as an underdog before the fight, endured a hail of blows. In the fifth round, Serrano, who was two years her junior and occasionally active in the cage, had brought Taylor to the brink of a knockout defeat with numerous impact hits. Blood spurted uncontrollably from Taylor’s nose and the cut above her eye, but she pushed through and regained control in the final laps.
After the success of the first edition, that’s how it is in boxing, a second part could follow soon. “Let’s do it again, Amanda,” Taylor said during her victory interview. Serrano, who had already held world titles in seven (!) different weight classes and whose only defeat to date was in 2012, was there immediately: “Whenever she wants.”
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