Boxing

Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 2: Keys to victory for both fighters

DAZN

What each fighter must do to be successful in their rematch Friday night.

It has been over two years since Katie Taylor edged Amanda Serrano by split decision as headliners of Madison Square Garden in a thrilling Fight of the Year.

Friday night, they’ll reprise their rivalry as Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs) defends her undisputed junior welterweight world championship against Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KOs) in a highly-anticipated rematch which will serve as the co-feature to Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

With the world watching and stakes extremely high, DAZN lists the keys to victory for each fighter.

Katie Taylor’s keys to victory

Use Serrano’s aggression against her

When these women clashed in April 2022, Taylor did a superb job of frustrating an aggressively encroaching Serrano by managing a healthy distance, especially during the early rounds.

Read more | Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 2: What happened in the first fight?

Managing that ring real estate allowed Taylor to stay out of harm’s way, make Serrano swing and miss, and also pepper the challenger with quick output.

Taylor is certainly capable of doing this again but she should maintain the strategy over long stretches of the fight and not cave into the temptation of slugging it out with Serrano.

Counterpunch to combinations

Their first fight had the Irish sensation using her counterpunches to string together stinging combinations.

Again, this too is tied to Serrano’s aggression. The more Serrano walks Taylor down, the more opportunity it affords the undisputed queen at junior welterweight to lash at her with scoring combinations.

Go over the top of Serrano’s guard

Serrano has a tendency of dropping her guard low as bouts wane. As this fight heads into deep waters and fatigue begins to set in, Taylor should look for opportunities to go right over the top with pounding hooks.

Amanda Serrano’s keys to victory

GettyImages

Walk Taylor down, keep the pressure strong

Serrano must be willing to walk the champ down and apply pressure from the opening round, unwilling to relent.

Yes, she might have to punch in traffic to continue moving forward but banking rounds with this strategy will make it all worth it.

Pound the body

As Serrano trapped Taylor against the ropes, she did an excellent job of pounding the Irish boxer’s body with crunching body work.

Those deposits can go long ways to fatigue Taylor, 38, as the bout goes on.

Force the stoppage

There was a moment in Round 5 of their original fight where Serrano rocked Taylor’s equilibrium in a kill-switch punch that put the champ on jelly legs. If the heavy-handed puncher lands something with similar damage, she must go for the stoppage.

You cannot give a savvy champion like Taylor more rounds and time.

If there's an opportunity to close out the show, Serrano has to do just that.

Error code: %{errorCode}