The official line from Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano is that they are thrilled to costar in the Friday night fights in the Dallas Cowboys stadium. But the unspoken truth is that the next chapter of their old-school boxing rivalry, based on ferocity and respect, has legitimised the strange and voyeuristic contest between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, the social media celebrity who concocted the entire affair.
The November evenings are chilly in Dallas and Paul, not for the first time, may have wildly overestimated his personal appeal by booking the AT&T stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys, for an outdoor event that was originally scheduled for July. The promoters are claiming that 70,000 people will truck it out to the big field in Arlington for an event that will be streamed live on Netflix. But tickets are still available as the hours count down and prices have fallen radically: $420 was the standard-seat cost last July. Now, tickets are going for under $70 and ringside seats are available at $1,475, down from the initial pricing of $40,000, according to World Boxing News.
The fear is that a diminished crowd and a cool evening will come nowhere near matching the unforgettable, frenzied atmosphere that Serrano and Taylor generated in Madison Square Garden in April 2022. Their breathtaking exhibition of skill and raw, unfiltered courage in their 12 rounds of two minutes had, by the end, everyone in the arena on their feet and the closing passage was special. Both women were still throwing wild, heavy punches in the closing seconds and opinion is still divided on who won that night.
Taylor edged it on the judge’s scorecard – 94-96; 97-93; 96-93 – and the Puerto Rican New Yorker has never disagreed with assertions that victory was hers that night in Manhattan. Taylor, who sat through the hyped-up press conference spectacle on Wednesday evening with barely concealed impatience, was typically diplomatic when that view was put to her.
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“Well, I believe that I won the last fight clearly. I just have to go in there on Friday night and beat her again. This is an amazing opportunity that we both have and I just can’t wait to step in there and showcase what I can do again and get another win.”
If the Tyson-Paul clash is based on entirely manufactured enmity and hot words dripping in testosterone, Serrano (36) and Taylor (38), speak of each other in words that never stray from cautious respect. Much of that surely emanates from the long road both have travelled to this multimillion dollar pay date but is more significantly attributable to their decades-long pursuit of boxing excellence. Their New York fight smashed ceilings in terms of quality and the old-fashioned thrill factor and both have a sharp eye on the lasting meaning of their contribution to the evolving story of women’s boxing.
“The question is always there when you are trying to be a face of a sport. But I feel like I am not just the face,” Serrano, the unified world featherweight champion, said.
“There’s a lot of us that come together, we made history together. And I just have to go out there and make sure I perform like I did last time. I am going to do what I do best and that’s come to fight. Definitely legacy is very important – to motivate and inspire these young girls, the new generation in this sport that you can do anything you put your mind to. If you believe in yourself and have a great team, you can go far. When I say how much I make, it is not bragging. It is to show these women we can make it, we are capable of breaking records and just drive for excellence and you will achieve it.”
Their New York fight can be reduced to the relentless punishment Serrano piled on to Taylor through the two minutes of the fifth round during which time slowed down. The Bray fighter was out on her feet, her nose bloodied and her eyes glassy as she stayed upright through pure instinct and guts. “Katie looks dazed,” yelled the fight commentator. “We’ve never seen her like this.”
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It seemed inconceivable then that Taylor would recover but within two rounds, she had transformed the fight from a brawl into her preferred state of a purist’s boxing match, hitting and moving and never allowing Serrano to corner her again.
“I think for every fighter we are always prepared for moments like that,” Taylor said on Wednesday.
“It’s why we train so hard. When you are in shape, you’re fit, you recover so well from those moments and I take a lot of reassurance and confidence from that because I took her bigger shots and I wasn’t moved. I won the second part of that fight and I take a lot of reassurance going in because of that.”
The rematch, which is expected to start at 3am on Saturday morning Irish time, has been set at a catchweight 138 pounds rather than the 140-pound limit super lightweight class of two years ago. Taylor has had just three fights since her last meeting with Serrano, including a defeat against Chantelle Cameron in May of last year, before she won the rematch six months later. Serrano has won five fights in succession since she met Taylor, her most recent being a second round stoppage of Stevie Morgan in July.
For Serrano, the return fight gives her a chance to atone for the decision of two years ago while Taylor is intent on confirming her reputation as the pound-for-pound best female fighter in the world with a victory that is more decisive in nature.
“I’ve put my body through the trenches over these last few months,” Taylor said, an understated message containing volumes.
Whatever about the other main event, Texas might be in for at least one touchstone sports event on Friday night.
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