NEW YORK – Anticipation for the third battle between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor has added a new ingredient: controversy.
The rivalry, once characterized by respect, has taken an unexpected turn. Serrano claims that the current undisputed champion of the 140-pound division backed out of an agreement for their July 11th fight to be contested in twelve three-minute rounds, the standard format in men’s title fights.
Taylor’s two previous victories over Serrano have been decided in ten two-minute rounds, the norm in women’s boxing. Serrano, however, has participated in other recent fights with the longer format and assures that Taylor agreed to adopt it for their rematch at Madison Square Garden, the scene of their first encounter.
“First of all, we shook hands,” Serrano stated during the initial press conference, reiterating what she had expressed in the press release announcing the fight. “She didn’t agree when we went to sign the contract.”
Amanda Serrano
Taylor first mentioned the possibility of three-minute rounds after finishing his victory in the second fight last November, on the undercard of Jake Paul’s victory over Mike Tyson, indicating that he believed they had already agreed to this format for the next encounter.
The 2012 Olympic gold medalist, originally from Ireland, stated that she was open to the idea, but would not allow the fight’s conditions to be imposed by the challenger.
“Regardless, I believe, as a principle, the challenger shouldn’t dictate the terms of the fight,” Taylor said. “I’m 2-0 and I’m in control here, and that’s the right thing. At the end of the day, Amanda needs this fight a lot more than I do. I have a long track record of big fights against big names and a line of people waiting to fight me for the financial gain.”
Katie Taylor
Serrano interrupted to insist that Taylor had given his word, adding:
“And if you say you make the decisions, you could have made the decisions that day. You shouldn’t have shaken my hand. You know that if you have an extra minute, you won’t do well.”
Amanda Serrano
Serrano put Taylor in trouble in the fifth round of their first fight and impacted her from the start in the rematch. With an additional minute, she might have been able to finish the fight and prevent the decision from falling to the judges.
The seven-division champion firmly believes in three-minute rounds, so much so that she relinquished the WBC featherweight title version because the organization did not allow her women’s belt to be contested in that format. Taylor would have had to do the same for this fight.
“So if that’s their choice, that’s their choice,” Serrano said. “But I wholeheartedly believe that women should receive the recognition and equality that men receive.”
Amanda Serrano
However, it’s not clear who made the final decision. Tomas Rohan, from Taylor’s team, indicated that it was Netflix, which broadcast the Tyson-Paul undercard and will also broadcast this fight, who determined that there was no reason to change the two-minute format and the action it provides. But Paul, co-director of Most Valuable Promotions, which represents Serrano, claimed that Netflix wanted the three-minute rounds and pointed to Taylor as the reason for not implementing them.
Taylor does not believe that an additional minute of combat translates into an additional minute of action.
“I think the purpose of the three-minute rounds was to show people that more knockouts happen. How many knockouts did you get in your 12 three-minute rounds? Zero,” she said, addressing Serrano. “They end up being boring fights and it wasn’t good publicity for women’s fights with 12 three-minute rounds. It was boring, so I don’t think Netflix is too disappointed that this fight is 10 two-minute rounds.”
Katie Taylor
