When they met last April in New York, female superstars Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano gave us The Fight of the Year. Now, a little over a year later, the two will do it again, this time in Ireland. This much we knew was coming, reliant on Puerto Rico’s Serrano getting the win last night in her featherweight unification battle with Erika Cruz.
Serrano got the victory last night in New York, even if it was bloody and far from easy, and unified lightweight champion Taylor was there in mid-ring to both congratulate Serrano, 44-2-1(30) and to eye up another war.
The fight of last year was as close and as competitive as could be imagined, with plenty of fight fans feeling Serrano did enough to win. Taylor instead walked away with a split decision win and now the sequel is upon us. As Taylor said last night, “the first fight was epic and I expect nothing less for the next one.”
So who wins the rematch, set for May 20? Fans can fully expect another gripping, toe-to-toe battle that pushes both women, likely to the wire and to the final bell. Is Taylor, at age 36, past her best and perhaps ready to be beaten? Will 34 year old Serrano, who will again be going up in weight to challenge Katie, be just a little too small for Taylor? Might these two wind up boxing a trilogy?
As for where the return fight will take place, the fight will absolutely be in Ireland, but the venue could be changed from the current site of the Republic of Ireland’s capital city’s 3Arena. As fans know, Taylor wanted so much to fight her Homecoming at Croke Park, yet it was reported last week how the gargantuan security costs the fight would require ruled that out.
However, Conor McGregor has offered to cover these security costs – with Eddie Hearn set to engage in talks with McGregor on this issue – so it is possible Taylor, 22-0(6) could yet box her first pro fight on home soil at the famous arena.
Serrano, who had a hard night last night, will not have too long to rest up and then get back into camp ahead of the Taylor return (just 15 weeks away as the rematch is), but the seven-weight champion wants revenge so bad she will make sure she is ready, we can rely on that.
Serrano is seemingly never in a bad fight (the same can of course be said of Taylor), and last night’s at times thrilling encounter served as one heck of an appetiser for the May fight. Credit goes to Cruz, now 15-2(3) as the Mexican really did come to win.
Serrano, defending her IBF/WBC/WBO featherweight belts, took Cruz’ WBA title via unanimous decision, the scores being 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93. The fight did look a lot closer than that. But Serrano became the four-belt champ at featherweight and now she is aiming to do the same up at lightweight.
On May 20, the world will be watching to see if Serrano can do it.
