Katie Taylor will not rematch Amanda Serrano this year after Eddie Hearn claimed Serrano and her promoter Jake Paul have turned down the fight.
Taylor retained her status as the undisputed lightweight champion in April with a hard-fought split decision win over Serrano at Madison Square Garden. The fight drew an audience of 1.5million viewers on DAZN to set a new women’s boxing viewership record.
Fans called for Taylor and Serrano, who became the first women to headline a boxing event at the famous New York arena, to meet again after their epic clash. Serrano and Paul seemed keen for the fight to take place in Dublin, but Hearn has now claimed the rematch will not be happening.
“They don’t want that fight, unfortunately,” Hearn told Pro Boxing Fans. “I mean we’ve spoken to Jake Paul ’s team and hey don’t really want to go to Ireland. They don’t really want the rematch. It's kind of like, regardless of the offer, we don’t want to do the rematch.”
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“I think they want to go away and build some confidence and get a win in August and maybe we can look at it next year,” Hearn said. “It’s very disappointing, because I love that fight. I think it’s a great fight and such a close fight. It doesn’t look like it’s a fight that unfortunately Amanda Serrano wants.”
Taylor extended her unbeaten run to 21 fights with the win whilst Serrano suffered her first loss in over a decade. The 35-year-old could now be set for a clash with either Holly Holm or Cris Cyborg, as Hearn revealed talks for Taylor to fight one of the MMA stars.
"There are three fights for Katie Taylor next," Hearn told iFL TV. "There is Cris Cyborg, there's Holly Holm or there's Amanda Serrano. We have had approaches from (the) government level in Ireland, they want to do Croke Park, and it would be an incredible moment for Katie Taylor. Those three names would be fine to do that."
Former three-weight world champion Holm, 40, crossed over to MMA in 2013 and became a UFC bantamweight champion by knocking out Ronda Rousey in one of the biggest upsets in promotional history. She recently lost a controversial split decision to Ketlen Vieira.
Cyborg, 36, is one of the greatest female MMA fighters of all time and has captured world titles in several promotions. Currently holding the Bellator featherweight title, Cyborg has never competed professionally in boxing.
