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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Eamon Doggett

Katie Taylor is open to taking on MMA legends - but is hell-bent on Amanda Serrano

Katie Taylor is hell-bent on a 2022 showdown with Amanda Serrano - but she isn't ruling out a couple of MMA legends either.

It was business as usual for the Bray native last weekend as she saw off Firuza Sharipova by unanimous decision in Liverpool.

Afterwards, the 35-year-old was immediately looking to the future and bigger challenges, including former seven-weight world champion Serrano.

Taylor's promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that the biggest fight in women's boxing history could happen at the sport's most famous venue.

"We were at Madison Square Garden a couple of weeks ago," said the Matchroom chief. "They loved the fight."

Serrano (41-1-1) fights this weekend against Miriam Gutierrez, who Taylor (20-0-0) saw off in November 2020.

As long as Serrano emerges unscathed, Hearn will look to wager a deal with Jake Paul, the Youtube star, whose Most Valuable Promotions Serrano has signed with.

Jake Paul (Getty Images)

Asked for her opinion on controversial social media star Paul, who has taken to the ring himself in recent years, Taylor was keen not to upset the apple cart.

She told the MMA Hour: "He's getting into the ring, he is fighting. He obviously picks and chooses his fights but I guess he's bringing a new audience to the sport as well.

"Even if a handful of that new audience turn into boxing fans I guess it is a good thing, but I would love to see him in there with a genuine fighter.

"He's definitely going to be an important person for me if it means that he is going to get this [Serrano] fight over the line so I'm not going to jump in the way and criticise him - he is willing to step into the ring at the end of the day and take punches and put himself on the line as well, so that takes a lot of courage in itself to step into the ring."

Holly Holm (SIPA USA/PA Images)

The former Olympic gold medallist would also be open to showpiece fights against the likes of MMA stars Holly Holm and Cris Cyborg.

"I know there was mention of those fights," Taylor said. "But I don't think we ever seriously talked about it.

"Obviously their names came up over the last few years and there's still huge possibilities that those fights can happen.

"I think I'd be very, very open for those fights to happen.

"I just want to be involved in the biggest fights possible, really. I want to get more attention to this sport, I want to be involved in history-making fights.

"If they're the fights that people want to see, I'd absolutely love to be involved."

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