Serrano for Taylor Wicklow boxer set for mega-fight

AFTER almost 18 months of speculation and hype, Katie Taylor’s much-anticipated mega-fight against Amanda Serrano has been confirmed, with the Bray-native’s undisputed lightweight title defence against the Puerto Rican pencilled in for May 2 at the Manchester Arena.

Taylor (15-0-0, 6 KOs) - who defeated thenWBO super-lightweight champion, Christina Linardatou, to become a two-weight world champion back in November – has been linked with a fight with Serrano since defeating her sister, Cindy, in October 2018.

Back in June of 2019, Katie’s manager, Brian Peters, said that the fight had been all-but agreed upon, stating: ‘It is done. The deal is done. The purse is agreed.

‘[Amanda]’s signed a three-fight deal; she has fought one of those, she is due one more, and then, the next fight, she has to fight Katie

Taylor.’

That third fight was the Puerto Rican’s dominant win over the previously undefeated Heather Hardy back in September. She went on to sharpen her teeth with a stoppage win over Simone Aparacida Da Silva, in January.

Finally, after over a year of waiting, the fight has been formally confirmed, with Matchroom Boxing chief, Eddie Hearn, describing the fight as the biggest in women’s boxing history.

‘Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano for the Undisputed Lightweight Championship of the World - this is the biggest women’s fight of all time,’ he said.

‘The whole of Ireland and Puerto Rico are going to be watching this absolute war between the Undisputed champion and the seven weight division champion - it doesn’t get any bigger!’

Meanwhile, Taylor herself said that she was delighted that the fight was finally coming to fruition, and that it was one that she had been anticipating for a long time.

‘It’s a fight that seems to have been talked about for years so I’m just glad it’s finally on. It’s a massive fight and one that I have been looking forward to for a long, long time.

‘I’ve been working hard in training camp in the US since the start of the year so it’s great have a date to focus on now and I can’t wait for May 2nd.’

Amanda Serrano (38-1-1, 28 KOs) represents the toughest opponent that KT will have faced since turning professional in 2016. The 32-year-old has held belts across seven different weight classes, having won titles at super flyweight, bantamweight, super bantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight, and light welterweight since turning pro in 2009.

Katie Taylor’s blockbuster undisputed world lightweight title defence against Amanda Serrano takes place on the undercard of Dillian Whyte’s heavyweight clash against Alexander Povetkin, and will be available through Sky Sports Box Office.