The Puerto Rican flag draped over her shoulders, Amanda Serrano wrapped her arms around an Irish flag-clad Katie Taylor in a warm embrace late Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Perhaps the Brooklyn, New York fighter said it best.
“I’m happy we made this. Look at what the hell we did,” Serrano told Taylor live on DAZN in the aftermath of the firework-filled fight they just delivered. “They say nobody wants to see women (boxing). This place is jam-packed.
“The best versus the best — you don’t see that much,” she tacked on. “I’m just so overwhelmed. Look at this crowd. Women can sell, women can fight and we put on a hell of a show.”
They sure did. A raucous crowd that came to see history in the form of the first women’s boxers to headline MSG in its 140-year history, left fully satiated over the 20-minute, edge-of-your-seat thriller that was not only an instant Fight of the Year contender but classic.
The Taylor-Serrano fight, which ended in a split decision for Taylor , not only catapulted women’s boxing forward Saturday night — it advanced boxing as a whole, period.
Reigning unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. tweeted, calling it a “fight of the year” before it even ended .
Eddie Hearn added in a tweet : “Forget male or female, you just saw one of the greatest fights in the history of Madison Square Garden.”
Conor McGregor implored for both Taylor and Serrano to take a bow over their performances.
The fight was so rich in quality and excitement that it instantly begged for a rematch to be made … and soon.
“Let’s do it again, Amanda,” Taylor said to Serrano live on DAZN. “$2 million each this time.”
“Amanda … rematch?” DAZN’s Chris Mannix asked.
“Whatever the team wants,” Serrano replied.
How about whatever fight fans want? What was billed as a history-making fight wound up being just as riveting as pioneering. It was everything it was promoted to be ... and more.
Simply put: Taylor vs. Serrano had everything fight fans and critics alike love to see: Pockets of firefighting throughout, two fighters exceeding their prowess and one hell of a steely resolve from the winner and reigning undisputed lightweight world champion Taylor, who survived a turbulent fifth round to eke out the nod on two of the three judges’ cards in a bout that could have been argued the other way in favor of Serrano.
Although both fighters looked sharp over the course of the first four rounds, Serrano wreaked major devastation in the fifth frame behind an incessant eruption of punches that Taylor somehow managed to weather.
After absorbing the worst round of her career, Taylor managed to dig back showing championship mettle.
The 10 and final frame ended in an all-out firefight, bringing an energetic MSG crowd to its feet.
Not only did fans in attendance — and many more watching live on DAZN — witness history, they just observed a Fight of the Year candidate, if not frontrunner. And it took the women 16 minutes less than men to produce such a gripping bout due to their two-minute rounds.
By the night’s end, Taylor’s sentiment was spot on — These women deserve $2 million each for their next fight. At the least.
And the boxing business should ensure that paydays for the star likes of Claressa Shields, Jessica McCaskill, Mikaela Mayer, Seniesa Estrada, and new super middleweight undisputed champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn all increase substantially as well. Women have had to suffer through a glaringly unfair gender wage gap for too long.
It’s time for the sport to make amends.
While we’re at it, let’s make Taylor-Serrano II three-minute rounds over 12 frames instead of 10.
Everyone witnessed in awe what they were able to do with 20 minutes. Just imagine 36.
“We’re trying to put women’s boxing on top,” Serrano told Mannix in closing, “and all of us have to come together.”
Both sides appeared to like the idea of heading to Ireland for a rematch when they appeared for the post-fight press conference. Taylor even feels they could sell out the 90,000 seat Croke Park. And after what was achieved before and during this bout, it'd be foolish to doubt that.