New York: Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will make history at Madison Square Garden as the first two female fighters to headline a card of boxing Saturday evening April 30. Taylor will defend her undisputed lightweight title that will be viewed worldwide on DAZN.
And for female boxing this is a milestone for sure. Taylor and Serrano are two of the main female fighters in the sport and fighters will always say when you main event at the Garden that is the goal and a highlight of their career.
Taylor (20-9 6 KOs) of Ireland defends the lightweight titles for the sixth time since winning them in June 2019. Serrano (42-1-1 30 KO’s) from Puerto Rico, and residing in Brooklyn, NY is a seven-weight world champion and comes off a knockout over Daniela Bermudez last March. She dominated Miriam Gutierrez on a card that co featured Jake Paul and was the 2021 Female Fighter of the Year for DAZN, ESPN, and the WBC.
“I’ve had my eyes on Amanda Serrano and this is a fight I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time now,” Taylor said Wednesday at a Garden press conference as she faced off with Serrano. “This is history right here and all of our hard work is going to be paid off for at this time.”
Taylor said this was the exciting fight for boxing and not just for the female division and added “we are both great champions. She has a great record and she’s a great fighter. I want to be the best fighter.”
“No time is better than right now,” Serrano said. “Happy women and girls in sports day. Women, we are changing the sport. I am honored to share the ring with Katie Taylor. I don’t want to talk bad about any of my opponents. I do all of my talking inside the ring.”
Serrano said it took her 13 years to achieve this milestone and “Never did I imagine making the money I have today. I mean, headlining MSG, like what?”
The reality, though, is female boxing has arrived. When two world class female fighters headline at “The Mecca” of Madison Square Garden the questions of struggle and recognition have been answered.
“This is going to be not just the biggest female fights of all time, but one of the biggest fights of all time.” said Eddie Hearn chairman and promoter of Matchroom Sport. “Katie Taylor is a huge draw in Ireland and the UK Amanda here in the US. Both women have headlined on major events around the world.”
Jessie Vargas and Liam Smith will be a part of the undercard as a crucial Super Welterweight 12-rounder which is also promoted by Jake Paul, the YouTube star who has made a transition to professional boxing as a fighter and head of Most Valuable Promotions.
Vargas (29-3-2 11 KOs) returns to the ring for the first time since his narrow reversal at the hands of Mikey Garcia in Texas in February 2020. The former two-weight World champion is seeking to become a three-time title holder, and the 32 year old is training for the Smith clash while running his political campaign to represent Nevada’s 4th Congressional District.
Smith (30-3-1 17 KOs) will defend the WBA International strap he won in his last outing, where he stopped local rival Anthony Fowler in eight rounds in October at the M&S Arena in Liverpool. The 33 year old held the WBO World title in 2015-16, and now sits at #4 in the WBA rankings and eyeing two-time World champion status.
Vargas and Smith were due to meet this weekend in Phoenix, but COVID canceled the fight.
“Thankfully I’m now through COVID,” said Vargas.. “I want to show everyone I’m better than before, I’ve been working on things in the gym, so it’s not like I’ve had a two year lay-off.”
“Liam is talking a lot, the fire is burning inside me. You don’t trash talk me, I’m coming in a different person. This will be an action-packed fight. I’ll exploit all of his weaknesses and take him out – My goal is to knock him out and retire him!”
But all eyes will be on Taylor and Serrano on April 30th at Madison Square Garden.
Rich Mancuso: Twitter@Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
