Taylor def. Serrano by decision to retain title

NEW YORK -- After 60 minutes and 30 rounds spent inside the ring together, the trilogy between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano reached its conclusion with Taylor winning a majority decision in a far more calculated and tentative affair than their previous encounters to retain her undisputed super lightweight championship.

The fight capped off a historic all-women's fight card in front of an energetic sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden and streamed live on Netflix. However, unlike their other two thrilling showdowns that were narrowly won by Taylor, this was a much more subdued affair with the Irishwoman using a check hook and flurries to take a more definitive decision with two scores of 97-93 and one judge seeing it even at 95-95.

Taylor and Serrano's previous two meetings were rousing encounters that Taylor won in disputed fashion but raised the profile of women's boxing overall. Their third meeting put a spotlight on women's boxing with 17 world titles contested across the fight card but didn't quite meet the extraordinarily high bar set by the first two fights.

Taylor and Serrano's first encounter took place April 30, 2022, at Madison Square Garden and had a global audience of 1.5 million viewers on Netflix. Their rematch last November as the co-main event to Jake Paul's decision over Mike Tyson became the most watched women's sporting event in U.S. history, averaging 74 million live viewers globally on Netflix.

The duo had the stage all to themselves in New York and brought the present and future of women's boxing with them. But it was the Pride of Ireland who put a stamp on the rivalry with a 3-0 sweep.

Unlike in their previous two encounters, the pair spent the first two rounds being extremely cautious before Serrano began to ramp up the pressure in Round 3. Taylor remained composed and picked her spots while Serrano flashed the jab and landed the occasional combination.

Fighting out of Ireland, Taylor (25-1, 6 KOs) opened up more in Round 5 and caught Serrano with the right hand and prevented "The Real Deal" from cornering her by circling away after every flurry of punches. Taylor started timing Serrano's advances in Round 6 and bounced several combinations off her opponent's skull whenever she sought to advance. Although she was persistent, Serrano's refusal to let her hands go eventually became her undoing.

By the later rounds, Taylor was comfortable with the pace and stiffed Serrano (47-4-1, 31 KOs) with flurries and used a check hook to keep the Puerto Rican from charging in.

Fighting out of Carolina, Puerto Rico, Serrano simply didn't look like herself and came to life only in the final round, when the decision was well in hand.

With the win, the most important rivalry in women's boxing has come to a close and the future for both fighters is undecided. Even though the final chapter didn't reach the heights of their previous two encounters, Taylor and Serrano undoubtedly put women's boxing on a pedestal that it hadn't been on before.

In the co-main event, Alycia Baumgardner (16-1, 7 KOs 1 No Contest) retained her undisputed super featherweight championship with a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Jennifer Miranda (12-1). "The Bomb" retained with scores of 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93.

It was a cat-and-mouse affair early with Baumgardner using her jab and trying to set traps to land her vaunted right hand. But Miranda was wise to the game plan and landed several counter right hands to pick off the champion's advances.

However, Miranda simply wasn't busy enough and allowed Baumgardner to start and end too many exchanges.

Baumgardner ended a long layoff with a win and said in her postfight interview that she was rusty and wants to get back in the ring as soon as possible. With Jake Paul anointing her as the future of Most Valuable Promotions, chances are she'll stay busy.