Katie Taylor’s controversial points decision victory over Amanda Serrano was met with boos at the AT&T Stadium on Friday as the Irish boxer retained her undisputed world light-welterweight champion status.
Fighting as the co-main event ahead of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, Taylor and Serrano provided another classic encounter in their long-awaited rematch having last fought in 2022.
Puerto Rico’s Serrano was the main aggressor in the fight, delivering more punches than Taylor, although the Irish fighter countered successfully at times.
In the face of the onslaught from Serrano, Taylor frequently leaned in to move her head close to her opponent’s and, in the fourth round, their heads clashed causing a big cut above Serrano’s right eye which resulted in blood pouring down the 36-year-old’s face as the fight went on.
Taylor, 38, was docked a point in the eighth round for a headbutt and it looked to most as if Serrano had done enough to avenge her defeat to Taylor just over two years ago in Madison Square Garden.
But to the surprise of Serrano and nearly everyone in attendance, all three judges scored the fight 95-94 for Taylor.
As Taylor celebrated and Serrano stood with a look of disbelief on her face in the ring, fans in AT&T Stadium booed the decision.
After the fight, Taylor said she didn’t “care” about the negativity she was receiving for the result, and insisted she “certainly wasn’t fighting dirty.”
“I didn’t agree with the points deduction. It gets rough in there … It was an absolute slugfest, a war,” she told Netflix. “This is an amazing moment in women’s boxing.
Thank God for another amazing fight.”
In her interview after the fight, Serrano said she “100%” thought the headbutts were intentional from Taylor, also explaining the damage a serious cut can have.
“I knew it if went to the judges it was going to be a little shady,” she told Netflix. “I chose to be great. I went up three divisions. It is what it is … I’m the featherweight champion. I want to be great and I only fight the best.
“Every time you get a cut, it bothers you. You get blood in your eye, it hurts, she kept headbutting me but we knew that from the very beginning of the first fight,” she added.
“That’s what they do, not only my fight, she did it with Chantelle Cameron.
Listen, I’m a Boricua. I’m going to die in this ring no matter what, no matter how many cuts I have on my face.”
Serrano expressed her surprise at the result on social media afterwards, writing on X: “I landed 107 more punches, she got a point deducted and I lost 95-94 lmfao.”
In the other main event, YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul defeated former heavyweight champion Tyson via unanimous decision.
