That’s all for tonight. We’re off to the press conference now. Be sure to check out tonight’s fight report.
Updated
“Thank you, Jesus. I needed a lot of help, a lot of strength today,” Taylor says. “I just want to thank Amanda Serrano. What an amazing fighter. We made history together, three times. It’s such a historic fight and it’s such a privilege to share the ring with her.”
Asked whether she thought she’d won the fight before the scores were raised, Taylor says: “I thought I was boxing very smart, very well, and she wasn’t catching me with much tonight. But it’s always going to be a very close contest between myself and Amanda. I just thank God that my hand was raised again and I’m 3-0.”
She continues: “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that people out there spent their hard-earned money to come over and support me. I just love you all, I love my country. Everytime I step in here I represent my country, I represent every single one of you guys.”
Updated
Katie Taylor wins by majority decision!
Taylor has retained her WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO junior welterweight titles by a majority decision. One judge scored it 95-95 while two others had it 97-93.
Round 10
Taylor continues to score with quick counters before darting out of range. It’s the winning strategy and why she will likely see her hand raised in a few minutes’ time. A masterful if slower-paced showing by Taylor and, for me, the easiest to score of their three encounters.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 10-9 Serrano (Taylor 97-93 Serrano)
Round 9
Taylor’s hand and foot speed are far more intact at this stage than in either of the first two fights and they’re serving her well here. The left-hand counters have been sparing but they’re scoring and catching the eyes of the judges. Serrano has all but abandoned the body.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 10-9 Serrano (Taylor 87-84 Serrano)
Round 8
Another highly tactical round. Taylor does enough to take it, but she’s showing some damage beneath her right eye.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 10-9 Serrano (Taylor 77-75 Serrano)
Round 7
Another very close round with neither fighter landing too much. The scores will be all over the place.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 9-10 Serrano (Taylor 67-66 Serrano)
Round 6
Taylor continues to fight well moving backwards, moving out of harm’s way to her left whenever Serrano closes in. In a far more muted affair than the first two instalments, Taylor is boxing beautifully. Serrano catches Taylor with a right hand right on the jaw as the bell sounds.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 10-9 Serrano (Taylor 58-56 Serrano)
Round 5
Serrano continues her pursuit of Taylor around the ring with Taylor measuring distance masterfully and staying just out of range. Serrano is having trouble cutting off the ring with Taylor tying up whenever she’s cornered. A very close round to call with not much action to go by, but Taylor is landing enough rights to swing the round. This fight is bearing no resemblance to the first two.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 10-9 Serrano (Taylor 48-47 Serrano)
Round 4
Taylor takes the fourth round fighting off the back foot in another round where each fighter is showing the other loads of respect.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 10-9 Serrano (Taylor 38-38 Serrano)
Round 3
The tension is smoldering. Taylor lands a combination in the center of the ring and Serrano fires right back. Neither flurry did any serious damage. Serrano catches Taylor with a big shot. Taylor lands a couple of sharp counters with Serrano coming in near the end of the frame and they may have been enough to swing it her way.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 9-10 Serrano (Taylor 28-29 Serrano)
Round 2
Another very cautious round as the mutual respect between the pair is coming through. Serrano finally lands the first punch of significance more than halfway through the second with lunging left hand but even that doesn’t land cleanly. Taylor is fighting off the back foot looking for openings but Serrano is not accomodating. Lots of feinting and deft footwork. Serrano nicks the round as the aggressor.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 9-10 Serrano (Taylor 19-19 Serrano)
Round 1
And we’re off! They meet in the center of the ring, the 21st round of their trilogy under way. Taylor looks to establish the left jab with several offerings before Serrano throws a punch. Lots of feinting early as each attempts to take the measure of the other and collect data. The round is over and there might not have been a single punch landed in the two minutes. The ultimate feeling-round round. Taylor shades it on activity.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Taylor 10-9 Serrano (Taylor 10-9 Serrano)
The fighters are in the ring. The introductions have been made. The fighters have gotten their final instructions and the seconds are out. We’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here!
A jubilant Amanda Serrano comes to the ring first. And it’s a highly theatrical entrance to Bad Bunny’s NUEVAYoL while accompanied by her promoter Jake Paul and about a dozen dancers. She’s wearing a red, white and blue leather robe and the crowd is eating it up.
And now it’s Katie Taylor’s turn. And the Bray fighter emerges from the tunnel to a mix of boos and cheers to Even Though I Walk by Hannah McClure and Bethel Music. She’s ambling slowly to the ring, completely focused with a stony expression, wearing a black robe with gold trim. The two entrances couldn’t possibly be more different.
The atmosphere in the Garden is positively electric in the moments before the national anthems. Sweet Caroline is in the books and the Puerto Rican and Irish fans are going back and forth trying to best one another on the decibel scale. Two anthems: Republic of Ireland and Puerto Rico. They’re happening right now. Ringwalks to come.
Alycia Baumgardner retains undisputed 130lb title
Alycia Baumgardner has just won a 10-round unanimous decision over Jennifer Miranda to retain her undisputed junior lightweight title. Two of the judges handed down cards of 98-92 while the third scored it 97-93. (Those margins feel wide; the Guardian had it 96-94 for Baumgardner in a fight where Miranda more than held her own.)
“I definitely give myself a B-plus,” Baumgardner says. “It wasn’t my best performance, but I’m just happy to be in the ring [after] such a long layoff and just be able to get those rounds in.”
Next up: the main event between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.
Earlier, Ellie Scotney unified three of the major world titles at junior featherweight champion by outpointing Yamileth Mercado. The 27-year-old from Catford, southeast London, won a 10-round unanimous decision by scores of 98-92 (twice) and 100-90, adding the Mexican’s WBC belt to her WBO and IBF straps.
Scotney improved to 11 wins in 11 professional fights and now holds three of the four major world titles at 122lb. The fourth, sanctioned by the WBA, is held by Mayelli Flores.
Tale of the tape
Here’s a look at how Taylor and Serrano measure up ahead of tonight’s main event. Physically, there’s not much to separate them. Serrano has a slight half-inch edge in height, while Taylor has the same advantage in reach. Their knockout percentages make it clear this is a match between the fighter and the boxer: Serrano has stopped 61% of her opponents inside the distance compared to 25% for Taylor.
Serrano hit the contracted 136lb catch-weight on the nose at Thursday’s weigh-in, while Taylor came in two-tenths of a pound under.
Early indications suggest a heavily pro-Serrano crowd. Notably, during the break between the sixth and seventh rounds of the last fight, the large video screens in the Garden flashed to Taylor then Serrano getting their hands wrapped in their dressing rooms. It was crowd’s first glimpse of either of the main event fighters tonight and it seemed the louder reaction was reserved for the Brooklyn-based challenger. That would be a shift from their first fight in this room back in 2022, where the audience allegiances felt split right down the middle.
Shadasia Green unifies 168lb titles
Shadasia Green has just won a 10-round split decision over Savannah Marshall to unify the IBF and WBO super middleweight titles. Two of the ringside judges tipped the 35-year-old from Paterson, New Jersey, by scores of 96-93 and 95-94, while the third had it 96-93 for Marshall.
Green was overcome by emotion after the scores were announced. She adds Marshall’s IBF title at 168lb to her own WBO belt.
Marshall, the 34-year-old from Hartlepool, does not dispute the result but is not happy with the margin on the 96-93 card. “To give me two rounds,” she says, amid boos from the crowd. “All I wanted was a fair fight.”
That leaves one more undercard fight before the main event: a 10-rounder between Alycia Baumgardner and Jennifer Miranda for Baumgardner’s undisputed junior lightweight championship. After that, Taylor and Serrano will make their entrances.
Preamble
They’ve landed a combined 861 punches, fought 20 rounds without a single knockdown and helped alter the course of women’s boxing history. Tonight at Madison Square Garden, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano step through the ropes for the third and very likely final time. One last dance. One last chance at closure.
This is more than a fight. It’s the culmination of a rivalry that has elevated the sport. In 2022, their first meeting was hailed as a landmark moment: the first women’s bout to headline the Garden, a ferocious spectacle before a raucous crowd that forced promoters to open the upper decks. Taylor edged it on a split decision many still debate. Their rematch last year in Texas was marginally more decisive, with Taylor again declared the winner but not without controversy. Serrano, bleeding from a deep cut above her eye, accused her rival of leading with her head. Taylor bristled at the suggestion: “Opinions are opinions, but facts are facts. I plan to stay 3-0.”
Now comes the trilogy bout and a shot at resolution. Taylor, 39, is putting her WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO junior welterweight titles on the line at a catchweight of 136lb. She is a two-division undisputed champion, Olympic gold medallist and arguably the most accomplished female boxer of all time. But her defining foil is Serrano: the 36-year-old Puerto Rican-born, Brooklyn-raised southpaw who’s won world titles in seven divisions and brings relentless volume and grit. If Taylor is the technician, Serrano is the engine. If Taylor is the icon, Serrano is the insurgent. And neither has much left to prove – except to each other.
Adding to the stakes is the backdrop: the first all-women’s professional card in Madison Square Garden history, streaming globally on Netflix. Alycia Baumgardner, Chantelle Cameron, Ellie Scotney, Savannah Marshall and Ramla Ali all feature, but it’s Taylor and Serrano who close the circle they started drawing two years ago.
This fight may not crown a new champion or undisputed queen. But it could finally provide the clarity their rivalry has lacked – or stir the call for a fourth. Either way, the bell is coming. And we’ll be ringside for every second of it.
How to watch Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano III
The broadcast will stream live globally on Netflix starting at 8pm ET (1am BST) at no additional cost to subscribers. The broadcast will feature live commentary in English, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America), Brazilian Portuguese and French.
It’s uncertain when Taylor and Serrano will make their entrances for the main event, but it won’t happen before 11pm local time (4am BST).
The first three undercard bouts not carried by the Netflix stream will be available free on Most Valuable Promotions’ YouTube page starting at 5.30pm ET (10.30pm BST).
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at Thursday’s weigh-ins.
