Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano fight at Madison Square Garden tonight in the biggest bout in women’s boxing history.
The undisputed lightweight championship of the world is on the line in what will be a huge main event in front of a capacity crowd in New York.
Taylor holds all the belts at 135lbs but now faces the toughest test of her career, two years on from when the mega-fight was first scheduled to take place. Covid put an end to those plans, with the fight bubbling in the background ever since and the rivals will now finally face off.
Both her belts and an unbeaten professional record will be on the line for Taylor, though the 35-year-old was fortunate to come away with victory on her last visit to New York. On the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz Jr, Taylor became undisputed at lightweight with a points win over Delfine Persoon, who many believed should have got the decision. Taylor has since beaten the Belgian again.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW TAYLOR VS SERRANO LIVE
Serrano holds an unrivalled set of records, winning nine world titles across an incredible seven weight divisions. The 33-year-old has been a professional since 2009 and has one loss to her name, against Frida Wallberg in 2012. She has been perfect ever since though, and currently holds the WBC, WBO, and IBO belts at featherweight.
Taylor vs Serrano date, start time, venue and ring walks
Taylor vs Serrano takes place tonight, April 30 2022 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The main undercard is due to begin at 12:30am BST, with ring walks for the main event expected at around 3:15am.
As ever, these times are subject to change depending on the length of the undercard bouts.
Taylor vs Serrano fight card/undercard in full
Also on tonight’s card, Liverpool’s Liam Smith returns to the ring for the first time since beating Anthony Fowler in October. He’s in a tough fight against Jessie Vargas, who has been out of action for more than two years since losing to Mikey Garcia on points.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Galal Yafai, who won the WBC International flyweight belt on his professional debut earlier this year, defends that belt against Miguel Cartagena as he looks to continue his rapid rise through the pro ranks.
There is also another massive undisputed fight on the bill. Franchon Crews-Dezurn, who in her first professional bout lost to Claressa Shields, puts her WBC and WBO super-middleweight belts on the line against WBA and IBF champion Elin Cederroos.
Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano
Jessie Vargas vs Liam Smith
Franchon Crews-Dezurn vs Elin Cederroos
Galal Yafai vs Miguel Cartagena
Austin Williams vs Chordale Booker
Reshat Mati vs Joe Eli Hernandez
Skye Nicolson vs Shanecqua Paisley Davis
Khalil Coe vs William Langston
Where to watch Taylor vs Serrano
TV channel: Taylor vs Serrano is being broadcast live tonight on sports video streaming service DAZN. A subscription to DAZN currently costs £7.99 a month in the UK.
The service can be viewed on smart TVs in addition to other devices such as computers, mobiles, gaming consoles and tablets.
Live stream: You can also follow the whole card via Standard Sport’s dedicated live fight night blog.
Taylor vs Serrano fight prediction
It would be fair to say that Taylor has not been at her best in her last few fights. She defended her belts with a narrow points victory over Natasha Jonas, before two below-par performances against Firuza Sharipov and Jennifer Han.
Promoter Eddie Hearn was adamant after those two bouts that Taylor was not on the slide and that the issue was simply motivation - that won’t be a problem against Serrano.
Should the win come for Taylor, it’s unlikely to be inside the distance. All of her last seven victories have been on points, with just six by stoppage in her career. She has kept faith in the boxing style that served her so well as an amateur.
Serrano, meanwhile, certainly does possess that knockout power, with 30 of her 42 professional wins coming by stoppage. While her last fight did go the distance, against Miriam Gutierrez in December, her opponent’s incredibly swollen face showed how punishing it can be to share a ring with Serrano.
While Taylor may take the opening rounds with her slick style, she will be caught later in the fight if she starts to tire like she has at times in her recent fights, with Serrano carrying her power throughout the ten rounds.
Both fighters are perhaps too good to be stopped and may have each other in trouble at points in the fight, but Taylor will likely have the slight edge should it go the distance as expected.
Taylor to win on points, split decision.
Taylor vs Serrano weights
Taylor holds a slight weight advantage after coming in at 134.6 pounds on Friday, with Serrano at 133.6 pounds.
Undercard weigh-in results:
Jessie Vargas 153lbs vs Liam Smith 154lbs
Franchon Crews Dezurn 166.8lbs vs Elin Cederroos 167.8lbs
Galal Yafai 111.8lbs vs Miguel Cartagena 110.4lbs
Austin Williams 158.8lbs vs Chordale Booker 157.4lbs
Reshat Mati 143.8lbs vs Joe Eli Hernandez 144.2lbs
Taylor vs Serrano purse
Both fighters are guaranteed a seven-figure payday for tonight’s main event, plus their cut of the pay-per-view money.
Promoters Eddie Hearn and Jake Paul have also made a bet worth a cool $1million on their respective fighters. Paul has pledged to give the money to Serrano should she win.
Taylor vs Serrano betting odds
Taylor to win: 6/5
Serrano to win: 8/11
Draw: 14/1
Taylor to win via decision/technical decision: 8/5
Taylor to win via KO, TKO or DQ: 8/1
Serrano to win via decision/technical decision: 8/5
Serrano to win via KO, TKO or DQ: 4/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
