After two all-time classics, the trilogy fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano failed to live up to the hype on Friday night. After 10 rounds of slow-paced action, Taylor took her third razor-thin decision over Serrano to retain the undisputed junior welterweight title.
Serrano, who had her most success in the first two fights by charging forward and throwing flurries of hard punches to force Taylor into a war, instead approached the third fight trying to fight from the outside. This resulted in a drastically lower punch output from both women compared to their previous meetings.
Nearly every round could have been scored either way, without a single round dominated by either woman, nor were there any of the dramatic exchanges that created the greatest rivalry in the history of women's boxing in their first two meetings.
The punch stats were even on punhces landed, with Taylor landing 70 of 231 punches landed to 70 of 382 from Serrano. By comparison, Serrano landed Serrano 324 of 734 punches in the rematch to 217 of 529 from Taylor.
"I thought I obviously was boxing very smart and very well, she wasn't catching me with much tonight," Taylor said after her win. "It's always a close fight between the two of us. ... I was obviously planning to fight disciplined and smart. Thankfully, I was able to execute the gameplan very well. ... I just have a ton of respect for Amanda, what a warrior."
Serrano admitted to trying a different approach by dialing back the aggression on Friday night.
"Listen, I tried something different, it was all about fighting smarter, not harder," Serrano said. "I was trying to keep my distance because [coming forward] didn't work the first two fights."
As for a potential fourth bout, Taylor shut the idea down.
"I don't know [if I'll fight again]. I'm not going to fight Amanda Serrano again," Taylor said. "She punches too hard."
Elsewhere on the card, Alycia Baumgardner got a showcase opportunity in defending her undisputed junior lightweight titles by decision over Jennifer Miranda. It will help soften the frustration from her last appearance in September 2024 that ended in a no contest because of a clash of heads. There was a big upset on the main card as well with Shadasia Green taking down Savannah Marshall by split decision to unify the WBO and IBF super middleweight titles. Green entered as high as a +450 underdog.
CBS Sports will be with you throughout the entire way on Friday with the live results and highlights below.
There's no way around it, this was a disappointing fight for both women. There's no clear argument for either woman to be upset with the scoring as neither did anything to stamp their name on any round. Taylor walks away from the rivalry with a 3-0 mark, none a clear win, but she owns the rivalry for all of time.
Taylor landed with a few right hands but none particularly clean. Serrano tried to push forward but ran into some clean Taylor punches. Serrano's attempts to push forward are coming too late and without anything ahead of the charge. A truly disappointing fight after what they produced in their first two meetings. Either woman can get the win here because neither did anything in any round to claim any decisive victory.
Both women connected with straight shots in an exchange. Serrano landed to the body. Serrano landed a left hand but ate a counter before Taylor popped out a jab. Taylor popped out some decent straight right hands. Taylor landed a good right late.
More missed jabs and straights as they continued to fight from outside of a range where either can comfortably land. Serrano landed a sweeping left and ate a straight right in return. Serrano just missed with a straight left. This fight could be scored almost any way, every round.
Both women missed with big fights early before Serrano had a little success inside. These are rounds without many meaningful shots landing and a lot of missed punches as they fight outside of a range where either is more effective. Taylor connected with a right while Serrano dipped down with a body shot. Another in a string of close rounds.
Serrano continued to try and box from the outside, which hadn't been a great strategy for her thus far. Taylor landed a stiff jab.Serrano landed a shot and ate two from Taylor in the corner. Serrano dipped down for a left to the body. Taylor threw a quick flurry of punches. Serrano landed well along the ropes. Serrano landed a late jab. Another in a series of close rounds.
Serrano landed a jab int he opening moments. Taylor continued to be comfortable fighting from the outside and picking her shots as Serrano just followed from distance, not pressing inside. Serrano did have a brief moment of landing a couple of punches before they went back to distance. Serrano landed a sweeping left to the body. Taylor connected with a few counters along the ropes. Taylor did well to avoid a shot late and land a couple of punches. This has not been a good fight, let alone great.
Taylor landed some good jabs in the first half of the round. Serrano has yet to fully open up her offense and it appears to be allowing Taylor to get a bit more of a rhythm. Taylor landed a left hook counter Taylor connected with two punches late.
Taylor came up short on a few right hands early in the round. Taylor had a moment, landing a little combination of quick, though not hard, punches. Taylor landed a good left and Serrano responded with a brief flurry but that was a Taylor round. This fiight has yet to live up to expectations thus far.
The punches continued to come up short early before Serrano got home a bit with a straight left hand. Serrano connected with another jab and a left to the chest. A Serrano looping left landed and then Taylor connected with a jab. Still waiting a bit for a full fight to break out in this one.
Both women came out flashing a few jabs from outside of range. Serrano tried to launch a straight left that came up a bit short. Taylor missed on her own straight right hand. I don't believe either woman landed a single punch in the round. Not sure there's a valid way to award that to either.
Taylor and Serrano are in the ring. Not much longer until we get down to business. We just have fighter introductions and final referee instructions ahead of us.
The fighters are making their way to the ring currently after national anthems have concluded. There's not much longer to go before the trilogy fight goes down. Serrano is a slight favorite heading in after two razor-thin losses, the second of which many believe Serrano deserved to win.
