Even before Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano had their grand walk-outs to the ring at Madison Square Garden for the final fight in their trilogy, the statement the event made was clear.
Women’s sports are real.
The sold-out MSG arena showed the world that an all-women’s boxing card could do what many doubters continue to foolishly believe, which is that women’s sports can’t compete and thrive.
Those thoughts should have been dismissed previously, but when haters like Clay Travis and his ilk push their foolishness, you will always have ignorance.
But on Friday night at the World’s Most Famous Arena, there is nothing Travis or his like-minded minions could say about women’s boxing.
The event featured eight fights, highlighted by Serrano vs Taylor. But it also featured exciting undercards, including a bruising and thrilling 10-round bout between Alycia Baumgardner and Jennifer Miranda, a hard-hitting 10-round bout between Shadasia Green and Savannah Marshall and a haymaker-filled fight between Ellie Scotney and Yamileth Mercado.
It was a night for fight fans, both casual and loyal, to see fighters they never had or fighters they had only read about or seen on social media.
But even more importantly, it was the opportunity to experience a history-making event.
If you wanted hard-hitting action, these fighters gave it to you. If you wanted controversy (which boxing always has), it provided that.
And if you wanted to feel the energy of a crowd that drove the fighters to give it their all, you got it.
While almost every fight had non-stop action, the main event was preceded by a great fight between Baumgardner and Miranda, who went at it all fight, especially in rounds six through eight. They pummeled each other and never backed down, thrilling all in attendance.
After Baumgardner (16-1) earned a unanimous 98-92, 98-92, 97-93 decision over Miranda (12-1), it was on to the main event.
The first two fights between Serrano and Taylor both ended in controversy, especially their second fight, which was on the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson card last November on Netflix.
That night, the two put on another action-packed fight and despite the buffering issues, it was clear to see that Serrano was robbed in the unanimous 95-94 decision for Taylor rendered by all three judges.
It was a fight where Serrano landed more punches while Taylor delivered more head blows than haymakers.
But promoter Paul pounced immediately and went to work on the next installment of the fierce yet controversy-marred rivalry.
And while last night’s event was historic, the end of the trilogy that spanned three years wasn’t as exciting in terms of the action in the ring.
At MSG, the two combined to land only 140 punches (70 each).
In their first fight in 2022, the two combined to land 320 punches, and in their rematch last November, they totaled 541 landed punches.
This is why many fans were critical of last night’s main event. Yet the fight still came down to another nail-biting decision and many weren’t sure who won when the bell rang at the end of the 10th and final round.
In the end, Taylor (25-1) swept the trilogy with a 95-95, 97-93, 97-93 majority decision over Serrano (47-4-1).
But the score wasn’t the real story; that was saved for what the full event meant.
It was the first time that Madison Square Garden hosted an all-women’s boxing event, the first all-women’s boxing event ever shown on Netflix, and it was a sold-out event.
It was the first time that a single boxing event featured so many belts on the line- 17 across eight bouts.
And, most significantly, it showed that women’s boxing could do what many thought it couldn’t.
“It was a truly amazing night for all of us women, and I’m crying because it was all because of you guys. You guys support us women,” said an emotional Serrano after the fight.
“We made history three times. It was such a historic fight and such a privilege to share a ring with her,” said Taylor. “We’re history-makers forever.”
“We did it, baby. We did it. We made history once again,” exclaimed Serrano.
And that, despite the outcome of each fight and the feelings of each fighter, is what Friday night at MSG was really about.
