- Katie Taylor defeated Amanda Serrano via unanimous decision, 95-94
- Mike Tyson and Jake Paul is up next to close out Netflix card
- Taylor was docked points for headbutting Serrano during the fight
Katie Taylor defeated Amanda Serrano via unanimous decision 95-94 across the board in controversial fashion.
The crowd at the AT&T Stadium in Texas was not happy with the result. Serrano suffered a gruesome cut in the middle of the fight which ended up being significant.
Serrano’s corner branded Taylor a ‘cheat’ during the contest and the fighter herself suggested the Irish boxer had done the same against Chantelle Cameron.
Still, the women put on another classic to lift up women’s boxing.
These legendary women picked up where they left off after their epic first encounter with plenty of hands thrown and no quarter given.
Taylor landed the first meaningful blow of the fight with a nice combination inside finishing with a short hook, but Serrano’s left hand staggered Taylor back into the corner to finish and cement the first round.
That set the tone for the opening four rounds of the fight for which the Puerto Rican hero certainly took. A clash of heads at the end of the fourth – something very common when southpaw and orthodox fighters clash inside – gave Serrano her first taste of adversity.
Taylor was left with a horror cut above her left eye that changed the course of the fight
The fight changed as soon as Serrano suffered the cut on her left eye
That cut turned the fight. A clash of heads again in round six split that cut open further and the referee had to call the ringside doctor to check it out.
Taylor honed in on the cut as you’d expect. Grinding against it in the clinch and targeting left hooks in virtually every combination. As dominant as Serrano was early in the fight, she was clearly affected.
Into the eighth round, Serrano’s corner branded Taylor a dirty fighter for leading with her head but the champion was indeed having her best success with her pressing. Not long after, Taylor was docked a point for incessantly butting with Serrano’s left eye.
The two fighters gave as good as they got in the final round both sensing they needed the 10th to secure the victory, but it was Taylor that managed to get the result over the line.
Serrano’s corner as left furious with the result and branded Taylor a cheat
Fans were stunned into almost silence when Taylor was announced the victor in Texas
Serrano did not hold back in her post-fight comments: ‘I dared to be great tonight, I am the featherweight champion of the world. It is what it is. Every time you get a cut, it bothers you, she kept headbutting me, but we knew that is what she do.
‘No matter how many cuts I have on my face, I will go until the very end. I think 100 per cent [the headbutts were intentional]. Using her head, dirty.’
