Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano: Big Fight Preview & Prediction

Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano: Big Fight Preview & Prediction

‘Any rematch must be bigger and better for emotion and grandeur. We can’t take a step back. Both Taylor and Serrano deserve an even larger stage next time.’ My words from 2022.

It should have been Croke Park. It’s almost a crime that Katie Taylor hasn’t had a fight of that magnitude in Dublin. A failure by many. But Taylor and Amanda Serrano will finally get their much-anticipated rematch. And yes, it is bigger. Their purses are significantly bigger also. Call it the Jake Paul effect. The YouTuber and fledgling boxer has his critics, but his entry into the world of boxing has garnered previously unseen riches from those who sail with him.

The unified world featherweight champion Amanda Serrano is one such fighter. Ever since the hook-up with Paul, her purses have ballooned. Without Paul, we probably wouldn’t have seen that incredible first fight from 2022. A sold-out Madison Square Garden. A global audience. A fight for the ages. Everything about the night delivered. Taylor survived a seismic scare. She got the nod on the cards. It was close, but I felt Taylor edged it. A better start. A better finish. Almost certainly, thanks to Jake Paul, we will finally get to see it again. Without him, we might not have seen it once let alone twice. An uncomfortable truth to many, no doubt.

Taylor and Serrano will share the biggest purse in women’s boxing history. A new weight this time. Taylor is now the undisputed world super-lightweight champion courtesy of her revenge win over Chantelle Cameron late last year. But just like in New York, weight won’t be a factor.

Many will say they will carry on where they left off over two years ago. Both Taylor and Serrano have shown a decline since their first meeting. Who wins the rematch might be a case of who has declined the least. But while they might have slipped somewhat since they entertained so spectacularly on the grand scale in New York, they are both probably at the same stage of their apparent decline. There was little to separate them last time. The odds say that will be the case the second time around this weekend.

Taylor and Serrano will have to play second fiddle to the circus act at the top of the card. Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will follow whatever Taylor and Serrano serve up at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Paul and Tyson will have a hard act to follow. For many reasons, an impossible one.

For everything that is wrong about boxing in the so-called main event, the co-feature is everything that is right about the sport. A pure fight in every sense of the word.

Taylor has fought three times since their first meeting. The two fights with Chantelle Cameron in 2023 were beyond hard. Twenty rounds that added more miles onto her boxing clock. The defeat to Cameron last May seemed to signal the beginning of the end. But six months later, Taylor got her belated homecoming victory. An inspired Taylor sent her Irish faithful home happy after ten frantic rounds that defied all the pre-fight predictions of her imminent demise. But was that one last great effort from a fighter who is so vitally important to her side of the sport? Can Katie Taylor give as much again? I have my doubts.

Serrano came so close to victory in New York. The Puerto Rican had Taylor on the brink. But the then undisputed world lightweight champion survived that torrid 5th round and found what she needed. It was almost superhuman. But those twenty rounds with Cameron might have emptied the Katie Taylor well once and for all. I thought Cameron did a number on Taylor in the first fight, and from ringside, I couldn’t split them in the rematch. Two fights that would have taken plenty away from Taylor that can’t be put back. Taylor will hope a year’s rest is her tonic to give the body what it needs to go again at the same level and intensity.

Taylor has given so much to her sport, but at 38, the end is near. Serrano, at 36, might just have a little bit more left in the tank. Taylor is a slight betting favourite, and you can never ever count her out. Her fighting obituary has been written many times. However, I feel that Serrano will inflict another defeat on Katie Taylor’s resume. The reigning undisputed super-lightweight champion gets hit a little too much now, and her legs are not what they were, and that doesn’t bode well against a big punching relentless fighter like Serrano.

The Puerto Rican legend will keep coming all night long, and Taylor might not be able to keep her off sufficiently this time. Taylor always gets dragged into a dogfight, either willingly or not, Serrano will take advantage and probably win a little easier than many people think.

(Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Most Valuable Promotions & Matchroom Boxing