Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have been confirmed for the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul event set to be held on July 20th. The two pound-for-pound fighters will be fighting at super lightweight where Taylor currently reigns as the undisputed champion of the division following her win over Chantelle Cameron earlier this year. The upcoming title bout will be the second between the two female fighters, with their first match having occurred in 2022 when Taylor was undisputed at 135 lbs. Taylor won that match by a narrow split-decision.
Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KO’s) will be defending her recently-won super lightweight/junior welterweight world titles against Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KO’s) on July 20th, at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, complementing the spectacle main event between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.
As opposed to Serrano’s last match in October of last year when she fought Brazilian opponent Danila Ramos in a three-minute/twelve-round bout, her upcoming fight with Katie Taylor will see her revert back to the women standard format of two-minute/ten-round fights due to what Serrano alleges to be Taylor’s unwillingness to compete in a 12×3-minute fight.
“Finally!!! I promised my fans this rematch and I wanted it to be 12×3 minute rounds,” Serrano posted on her Twitter/X account. “But Katie wanted 10×2 – she’s the champ, so that is what we will do. I believe I won our first fight, but I didn’t get the decision. This time I’m not leaving it to the judges. No more sweet Serrano. War mentality activated.“
Taylor’s refusal is not the first time this occurred, with Serrano having alleged in the past that Taylor had refused to face her in a 12×3 contest; a format that Chantelle Cameron (18-1, 8 KO’s) also attempted to include for her November 25th rematch against Katie Taylor.
Also of interest will be the fact that Amanda Serrano, who currently holds the WBA, WBO and IBF titles at super featherweight/junior lightweight, will be moving up three weight classes [approx. 10 lbs] to fight Katie Taylor this time around―as opposed to the two weight classes when Serrano last fought Taylor at 135 lbs.
While the undisputed 140 lbs bout between Serrano and Taylor will be undoubtedly one of the most prevalent matches to occur this year with both female fighters known as two of the best in the world, it will further legitimize the exhibition headlining bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul which will ironically offer nothing substantive to the sport of boxing.
However, for women’s boxing, the Taylor-Serrano II match will set a precedent for female boxers that can encourage more fights of such esteem to take place, and further helps encourage the growth of the sport.
Unfortunately, with the Tyson-Paul match taking center stage as it will feature as the main event, mixed messages will go out as to the exact credibility of boxing with two fighters that are non-competitive or retired within the sport set to earn a jaw-dropping amount of money based on broadcaster Netflix’s wide range of customers, and the ticket sales that will emerge from the 90.000-capacity stadium.
In the meantime, actual relevant fights such as Taylor-Serrano II will be forced to be treated as a lesser-regarded fight that will see both fighters earn less than the clear mismatch between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul who will likely not even be fighting in an actual professional match, regardless of the rules that are set in place.
