What a fight!
To say this fight had everything would be an understatement, it was as close as it possibly could be, and the sheer level of heart, desire, and unprecedented levels of will power was frightening.
Katie Taylor got off to the better start, making full use of the ring, working beautifully at mid-range where she was able to land her combinations, but bounce out just in time, and had a lot of success with the check hook.
It looked as if it wasn’t going to be Taylor’s day at one stage
However, Amanda Serrano then burst into life and just trapped Taylor on the ropes, made the ring seem half its size, and cut off any space that the Irish native was looking to slip into.
The Puerto Rican champ was relentless, throwing heavy and throwing often, and in the 5th round, Taylor looked genuinely out on her feet, this was the deepest waters she had ever been dragged in, they say you have to go to the trenches, but this was even deeper than that.
Every Taylor fan worldwide was watching that round through their fingers, as grannies everywhere were getting phone calls, demanding that candles be lit, because the dream truly looked to be over.
Katie Taylor beat Amanda Serrano by split decision in a Fight of the Year contender 🌟#TaylorSerrano | @autozone pic.twitter.com/WaWlUUCN8K
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 1, 2022
However, ring experience paid dividends, the defending champ came out, found her distance again, stayed off the ropes, and regain her composure.
Then in the eighth round, Taylor found her second wind, and took control, she was hard to hit, spinner off on her left, and worked laterally rather than in straight lines.
It was Serrano’s turn to dig deep now, and she put her foot on the gas, but almost wanted it too much and started chasing the fight, swinging more wildly than normal.
Then it all came down to the last round, with everything on the line, and the two warriors went toe to toe, the decades of training they put into their careers came to fruition here, and they both tapped into inhuman levels of reserves, in what was surely an empty gas tank, but they defied all of the odds by even being where they are now, and they did it again tonight.
It was always going to be a split decision, it was just that close, but in the end Taylor started stronger and finished stronger, and was the deserving winner on a wonderful night.
Could there be a rematch?
Sports fans are greedy though, and the blood hasn’t even dried on the girls faces, and everyone is already crying out for a rematch and both Eddie Hearn and Jake Paul have agreed that there’s only one place to do that – Croke Park.
Now imagine that.
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