Taylor 'sick of Serrano's whining' before trilogy bout

BBC News

2 days ago

Katie Taylor says she is "sick of Amanda Serrano's whining" before their third fight on Friday at Madison Square Garden in New York.Taylor, 39, has two wins over Serrano, but the Puerto Rican says she believes she won both bouts and complained about the Irishwoman's use of her head in their rematch in November.Speaking at a news conference, Taylor appeared unperturbed about her rival's opinions."The fact is that I am 2-0 against her," Taylor, the defending light-welterweight undisputed champion, said."Opinions are opinions, but facts are facts, and you can't get away from those facts. And, yeah, I guess I'm just sick of the complaining and whining from her team."I'm going into this fight unbeaten against Amanda Serrano, and I plan to stay on being against her."It's back to the scene of their first meeting at MSG in 2022 where Serrano and Taylor became the first female boxing headliners at the iconic venue.Taylor v Serrano 3 – all you need to knowThis is another first for the venue as the eight-fight card is all-female - five of those unified world-title bouts - and populated by the cream of the crop including Britons Ellie Scotney, Chantelle Cameron and Savannah Marshall.Promoted by Jake Paul's MVP Promotions, it was a naturally brash and in-your-face final news gathering with a free T-shirt for everyone in the audience, but strip it all back and we are left with two fighters who have served up two classics.
During the news conference, MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian announced there was a $250,000 performance bonus on offer for the best performance or fight of the night.Bidarian also predicted the Serrano-Taylor bout would be the most watched combat sports event of the year so far, with Netflix streaming their second boxing event after broadcasting Jake Paul v Mike Tyson in November.Taylor's undisputed light-welterweight crown will be on the line once again, but this fight will have a 136lb weight limit at the behest of Serrano and her team.The Irishwoman was also nonplussed about being announced on stage first - traditionally reserved for the challenger - branding the hoopla and pre-fight rituals as "nonsense".Having previously shared 20 rounds of all-out battle it's not exactly a shock that some needle has built, with Serrano far from impressed by the scorecards from their second meeting in Texas last year.Serrano, 36, fought most of that contest battling a massive cut above her eye.She said adjustments are required, insisting she will box clever, and in relaying that information couldn't resist another dig."I'm going to use my head, but not the way it was used on me," Serrano said."We're going to be smarter. We're going to be smarter, work smarter. I work hard in every training camp so I didn't work harder for this camp, but I did work a lot smarter for this fight."And I believe that we can come out victorious. We will come out victorious."
Both women all but confirmed this will be the final instalment of their rivalry, as although boxing can't get enough of this match-up, they have seen enough of one another.They have proven to be exceptional dance partners despite the strange scenario of this trilogy bout taking place with one of the combatants having won both previous meetings, but there is still a point to prove and Taylor's three fingers up when the fighters went head-to-head illustrated the point."Losing is never fun," Serrano said. "You only lose if you feel like you lost. I didn't feel like I lost. My team said I didn't lose. They're proud of me. I'm okay. Like Jake Paul says you turn that L into a W.""But you did lose the fight. You did lose," Taylor quickly replied.