Undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor (25-1, 6 KOs) retained her titles with a controversial 10-round majority decision over Amanda Serrano (47-4-1, 31 KOs) in their trilogy match on Friday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. There were no knockdowns in the fight.
Serrano’s Dominant Punch Output
Serrano, 36, landed the harder punches, and she was the one applying pressure throughout the contest. Taylor used a lot of movement and clinching to neutralize the offense from the sharper punching Serrano.
At the end of the fight, it appeared that Amanda had done enough to be given the decision. However, two of the judges chose to side with the boxer, Taylor, scoring it 95-95, 97-93, and 97-93. The much higher output from Serrano made those scores look out of place for the fight that occurred tonight. Not only did Serrano land and throw more shots, but her punches were harder.
Taylor’s constant movement was annoying to watch, as she had the size advantage over Serrano. Katie needed to show more aggression, because he movement gave the impression that she was running from Serrano.
Tactical Fight at MSG
The fans at ringside were unhappy with the slow pace, the tactical style being used, and lack of shots being landed. Serrano didn’t help herself by choosing to box when the fight was slipping away from her. She was staying on the outside, throwing shots that often came up short due to her being too far away. It was weird to watch because she should have known that she was too far away to land.
In the ninth and tenth rounds, Serrano fought with more aggression and landed some beautiful shots on Taylor after trapping her against the ropes. However, she often let Taylor move away without staying on top of her to continue to land.
The Taylor-Serrano 3 fight was shown on Netflix, which means it was likely seen by a lot of subscribers.