Amanda Serrano bristled this week as she discussed the sorest of points ahead of her massive trilogy fight vs Katie Taylor in New York on Friday July 11.
In just over three months, these two living legends of women’s boxing will meet for a third time, inside the hallowed confines of Madison Square Garden. Streaming platform Netflix will air the bout globally – free of charge to existing subscribers. This follows their wildly successful foray into boxing with that Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul ‘fight’ last year.
Puerto Rican superstar Amanda (47-3-1) is 0-2 against Taylor (24-1) so far, having dropped wafer-thin decisions to the Irish great in 2022 and then again in late 2024.
Both of those bouts – again at Madison Square Garden and then at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas last November – were sensational barnburners which elevated the women’s fight game to new levels. But each time Amanda came away feeling she had done enough to get the nod.
It is no surprise the 36-year-old wants every possible edge she can get for the trilogy fight, and she believes there was an agreement to have their next meeting take place over 12 x 3-minute rounds (remember women normally box 2-minute rounds). It did not though pan out like that.
Serrano fumes over rounds controversy
She said: “Listen, well we shook on it. If you can roll the tapes, we shook on it. She didn’t agree when we went to sign the contract. I believe women can do it, we are capable of doing it as you saw and WBC said no, so I had to give up one of my babies. I worked hard for that belt – I worked hard for all my belts. They decided they weren’t going to go with it, so I had to give it up.
“I had to go with what I believed in and I believed in the 12 threes. So if that’s her choice then that’s her choice, but I believe that women should get the recognition and the equality that the men get. “
Katie says she calls the shots
The 38-year-old Taylor though believes that after winning the first two meetings with Serrano, she should get to call the shots.
“I am 2-0 here and I’m in the driver’s seat. That’s only right at the end of the day,” she said.
“Amanda needs this fight a lot more than I do. I have a long history of big fights against big names and a line of people queued up to fight me for the payday. You need this fight a lot more than I do, Amanda. You know that.
“At the end of the day, I think the point of [you fighting] three-minute rounds was to prove to people that you get more knockouts. How many knockouts did you get in your 12 three-minute rounds? Zero.”
Taylor will put all of her world super lightweight titles (IBF, IBO, WBC and WBO) on the line for the big showdown in the Big Apple on July 11.
