Preview: Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano
Undisputed women’s lightweight champion Katie Taylor will defend her titles against 7-division titleholder Amanda Serrano on Saturday night, in one of the biggest women’s boxing matchups of all-time. The fight and its undercard will be held at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City and will be streamed live on DAZN.
The anticipation for Taylor-Serrano has been brewing for quite some time, as both women are atop of ESPN’s pound-for-pound list, with Taylor at no. 1 and Serrano at no. 2. In fact, they were supposed to fight in 2020, but the pandemic and a variety of other issues put a halt to that.
Taylor (20-0, 6 KO) has been dominating the lightweight division for the last few years and is preparing to make the sixth defense of her undisputed title at 35-years-old. After moving up to capture a title at junior welterweight in 2019, “KT” moved back down to 135 pounds to defend the undisputed title she won in a hard-fought bout against Delfine Persoon earlier that year. Notable wins in her recent 5-fight stretch include a rematch win against Persoon and a close decision over Natasha Jonas.
Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KO), who holds the Guinness World Record for the most boxing titles won in different weight classes by a female, currently owns the WBO and WBC titles at featherweight. But in her last bout in December 2021, the 33-year-old moved back up to lightweight, winning a decision over Miriam Gutierrez after 10 rounds of action. While Taylor may have a speed advantage, Serrano may very well have the edge in power and knockout ability. In her last five ring appearances, Serrano has won three of them by knockout or stoppage.
This fight and the anticipation of it is massively important for generating interest in women’s boxing. If this fight is a success, it should surely pave the way for more female superfights and pay-per-view headliners in the near future.
Fighter’s Form (last 5 fights):
Katie Taylor
Firuza Sharipova - WIN by UD (98-92, 97-92, 96-93) - 11/12/2021
Jennifer Han - WIN by UD (100-89, 100-89, 100-89) - 04/09/2021
Natasha Jonas - WIN by UD (96-94, 96-95, 96-95) - 01/05/2021
Miriam Gutierrez - WIN by UD (100-89, 100-90, 99-91) - 14/11/2020
Delfine Persoon - WIN by UD (98-93, 96-94, 96-94) - 22/08/2020
Amanda Serrano
Miriam Gutierrez - WIN by UD (100-90, 99-90, 99-90) - 18/12/2021
Yamileth Mercado - WIN by UD (99-91, 98-92, 97-93) - 29/08/2021
Daniela Romina Bermudez - WIN by KO 9 - 25/03/2021
Dahianna Santana - WIN by TKO 1 - 16/12/2020
Simone Aparecida da Silva - WIN by TKO 3 - 30/01/2020
Event Information:
Date: April 30th, 2022
Time: 12:30am (GMT), 4:30pm (PT), 7:30pm (ET)
Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA
Channel: DAZN
Elsewhere on the card
In the co-main event, titleholders Franchon Crews-Dezurn (7-1, 2 KO) and Elin Cederroos (8-0, 4 KO) will meet to unify the women’s super middleweight division and fight for the undisputed championship of the world. Also on the card, are former titleholders Jessie Vargas (29-3, 11 KO) and Liam Smith (30-3, 17 KO) who will be facing off in a 12-round super welterweight bout.