Katie Taylor wins controversial rematch with Amanda Serrano to retain super lightweight title

Another Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano superfight, another heavily disputed judging decision. For the second time, Taylor defeated Serrano via a decision that left more fans questioning the scorecards than praising Taylor’s skills.

Serrano fought through a gnarly cut above her right eye throughout much of the in the Arlington, Texas, bout thanks to a series of Taylor head butts, one of which resulted in a point deduction in the eighth round.

Taylor appeared to be fighting from behind throughout the bout, with Serrano fighting with tremendous precision, but Taylor’s strong finish in the final four frames swung the judges’ scorecards to earn the Irish fighter a trio of identical judgments, 95-94.

Afterward, Serrano was clearly gutted by the decision.

“She kept head butting me, but we knew that from the very beginning from the first fight,” Serrano said in the ring. “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’s trademark early-fight onslaught had Taylor staggering from the first round when she connected on a mean overhand left in the final seconds. Serrano kept Taylor circling on her back foot through the first five rounds as the bout turned into a streetfight — exactly what Serrano wanted.

Taylor’s combinations came to life in the final four rounds, much like she did in the pair’s first bout, to pull off the comeback once again. Afterward, both women said they would be open to a third fight, but not before Serrano’s trainer Jordan Maldonado interrupted the post-fight interview to say another bout would require better refereeing.

In the ninth round, Maldonado told Ariel Helwani in a midfight interview, “(Taylor) is so dirty, she leads with her head. She’s such a nice person outside, but she goes in there and is so dirty. … She leads with her head, that’s her best attribute.”

In many ways beyond the scoring disputes, it was a fitting sequel to their bout in April 2022. That bout had been dubbed the biggest women’s boxing match of all time because of the setting and a tightly contested split decision. Friday’s battle was even more filled with spectacle, as the co-main event of a card that was sure to draw significant viewership as the lead-in to Jake Paul fighting Mike Tyson.

The bout was streamed on Netflix at no additional cost to its subscribers, an unusual forum for the sport compared with the more traditional offering of a single pay-per-view event, though many subscribers complained about problems with the stream being frequently interrupted, a likely sign of the popularity of the event.

It was also staged at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, making the ring appear tiny compared with the football field below it and the giant screens above it.

Taylor won the initial bout two years ago by weathering a surge from Serrano in its middle stages. Serrano, 36, is known for her heavy punch output and landed with far more success in the rematch than she did in 2022.

Serrano, who fights under Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions label, would have become a two-division undisputed champion with the victory.

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(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)