For a sporting event to capture the world’s imagination, it needs some of entertainment’s biggest names to get behind it, and Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano on April 30th has exactly that.
Jake Paul, one of the world’s biggest stars, has a vested interest in the fight at Madison Square Garden which will be broadcast live across the world exclusively on DAZN.
Serrano is the only fighter signed to Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and if she walks away with the undisputed women’s lightweight title at the end of April, there is no doubt she will be one of boxing’s most valuable assets.
But how exactly did this relationship between Serrano and Paul come about?
The first meeting between the two came by chance.
Paul was facing fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib in his first professional fight and he shared the card with Serrano who fought Simone Aparecida da Silva on January 30th, 2020. A third round stoppage win from Serrano left an impression on Paul.
As Paul continued to progress his career inside the ring, he was generating attention around his events which most boxers craved and ahead of his first fight with Tyron Woodley last August, he expressed his desire to have prominent female fighter on his card.
Paul got his wish. Serrano successfully defended her WBO and WBC featherweight titles against Yamileth Mercardo and received a rousing reception from the Cleveland crowd. It was already evident what effect Paul could have on a fighter’s profile.
Discussions then followed between Paul and co-founder of MVP Nakisa Bidarian about signing Serrano to their promotion arm. The Puerto Rican was a promotional free agent after her relationship with Lou DiBella came to an end.
As expected, there were some doubts when it came to signing with a new boxing promotion, however, Serrano saw this as an opportunity to disrupt the status quo in boxing.
After signing, Paul dissected Serrano’s social media profiles and began making suggestions about what to post in order to increase her engagement.
In an interview with ESPN, Paul explained how he went about improving Serrano’s social media output.
“I did a deep dive into her brand and gave her a whole overview of the things that she should change and work on, and ideas, and we scheduled her a photo shoot," Paul said.
"Like she had no professional photos of her. So we scheduled a photo shoot.
"We've been busy, but I guess we haven't hired a social media manager, because I guess that's me, and I just realized it."
The effects were clear to see. More and more fans were wanting photos, autographs, and a chance to speak with the multi-weight world champion.
Now Serrano and Paul are on the hunt for the missing piece of puzzle, an undisputed title.
Taylor vs. Serrano at MSG is a historic event for a myriad of reasons, and Paul being a part of the promotion means the build-up will not be just seen by fight fans, but a new audience of 18m+ social media followers who may not have watched a women’s boxing match before.
Love him or hate him, Paul has brought a new, youthful energy to the sport of boxing, and now he looks to bring women’s boxing into the sporting mainstream on April 30th live on DAZN.