Taylor and Serrano. The inevitable trilogy

Article first appeared at AndysBetClub

On Friday night, in one of boxing’s oldest and most storied colosseums, Madison Square Gardens, New York, Katie Taylor will meet Amanda Serrano for the third and probably final time. It is a venue dripping in history – from LaMotta versus Robinson, Louis and Marciano to Lewis and Holyfield and the fight of the century, Ali versus Frazier in 1971 – ‘The Garden’ has seen it all.  

The trilogy bout between the two veterans is likely to confirm their own place alongside those illustrious pairings. Taylor and Serrano first boxed in 2022 in a fight widely considered one of the greatest contests in women’s boxing history at this same venue and their rematch in late 2024 was equally compelling and ferociously fought. A ferocity that made this trilogy bout inevitable and hotly anticipated. 

Markets are available for those looking to profit from the action and the fight, promoted by Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions, will be freely available to Netflix subscribers. 

Continue reading “Taylor and Serrano. The inevitable trilogy”

KATIE TAYLOR VS. CHANTELLE CAMERON – FIGHT NIGHT PREVIEW

First published at Bookmakers.com

Ever since Katie Taylor, now 22-0 (6ko) and the undisputed champion of the Lightweight division, first put on a headguard and ducked between the ropes, the then-12-year-old girl from Bray, County Wicklow, has been liberating women’s boxing from the restraints placed upon it by the vagaries of tradition and misogyny. 

She began by overcoming the resistance to her participation, boxing first as a ‘boy’, and then in the first sanctioned female bout to take place in Ireland, aged 15. Taylor would win Gold at the Olympics in 2012, the debut for women’s boxing, and took that acclaim and five Amateur World Championships to begin the journey towards the all-time sporting great she has subsequently become.

Her bout with Chantelle Cameron on Saturday night is the latest chapter in a storied career that has trampled on the established notions that women cannot sell tickets, deliver TV audiences or headline major events. The fact it may yet prove to be the toughest fight of Taylor’s six-year career only adds to her legend and reflects on her self-belief and a willingness to take risks to achieve her goals. 

Continue reading “KATIE TAYLOR VS. CHANTELLE CAMERON – FIGHT NIGHT PREVIEW”

In the footsteps of Ali. Katie Taylor eyes Croke Park crescendo

Sometimes my feet are tired and my hands are quiet, but there is no quiet in my heart.
W.B. Yeats, Irish Poet, 1865-1939

Katie Taylor answered in her characteristic manner. Certain. Humble. Promoter Eddie Hearn waxed lyrical. Ignoring the boos of progressively deeper octave; “Ireland, Croke Park. Serrano. Has to be. If not, someone else. But it is Ireland next.” Taylor’s Irish eyes smiled, warming to a familiar squint. Sweat still springs. Cheeks thickened. Her aching hands resting on silk hips. As the questions were posed and the cliches shared, hundreds still loitered among the strewn plastic cups and the Saturday night spilt at their feet. Taylor had done as expected; beating the tall, organised Argentinian Karen Elizabeth Carabajal for all the Lightweight belts by unanimous points decision. Knockouts, the violent climax ticket buyers crave still stubbornly elusive.

Still friends and strangers sway, arms entwined, a joyful scrummage. The shrewd and restless twist their necks to listen as they clambered for the exits. The nocturnes and neon of the London night, the rationed taxi cabs and their prodigal sibling of the morning’s regret quickening their stride. Irish tricolours stretch and fall. Cheers, drunk with vowels tumble down toward the ring and the garden of microphones.

Katie Taylor fills arenas. And her eyes are on the biggest of all. One with both history and meaning for the people of Ireland.

Continue reading “In the footsteps of Ali. Katie Taylor eyes Croke Park crescendo”

KATIE – The acclaimed story of women’s boxing’s biggest star

“I never put limits on myself.”

Boxing remains a rich seam for those who enjoy mining for stories of glory, triumph, loss or redemption. It is a world inhabited by the colourful and paradoxic, from the magnanimous hero to the loveable villain and a fair smattering of everything in between.

Occasionally, for those immersed in boxing’s culture, in her truths and philosophies and her lies and darker corners too, it is possible to become desensitised to the virtue of most of her participants and to the greatness she can draw from people.

In November 2017, in the unspectacular surroundings of Wembley Arena, on an otherwise forgettable card notionally headlined by a van glorious Light-Welterweight, Katie Taylor made her professional debut and, in doing so, woke the gathered.

A special fighter, perhaps a special person, was among them. And, like me, years from that night they would be able to say they were there when it all began.

Continue reading “KATIE – The acclaimed story of women’s boxing’s biggest star”

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