Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano I: The Most Hyped Women’s Fight Ever

When the Hype Becomes History

April 30th, 2022 wasn’t just a date on the calendar. For anyone who loves boxing — really loves it — it was a seismic event. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano walked into Madison Square Garden with the kind of buzz usually reserved for heavyweights or the flashy welterweight cash cows. And let’s be honest: women’s boxing hadn’t always gotten this kind of spotlight. But that night? That night was different.

This wasn’t just two champions fighting for belts. It was Ireland vs Puerto Rico. Matador vs brawler. Calm precision vs raw pressure. But above all — it was finally women’s boxing headlining the Mecca. And if you were in the building, or just glued to the screen like I was, you felt the electricity crackle every second of the way.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that atmosphere. It was deafening, it was emotional, and it was ours.” — Katie Taylor, post-fight interview

We’d seen Taylor win before, clean and tactical. We’d seen Serrano break opponents down like a human wrecking ball. But we hadn’t seen them like this — forced to reach deeper, adapt, and fight through something bigger than strategy.

The War Inside the Ropes

First round? A chess match. Katie’s feet were light, her jab sharper than ever. Serrano was reading, waiting. But by Round 4, it turned — and not in Taylor’s favor. Serrano came in like a thunderstorm: hooks, body shots, suffocating pressure. For a couple rounds, I’ll be straight with you, it looked like Katie might not make it out of the fight standing.

Then Round 6 happened. If you’re the kind who rewatches fights with a notebook in hand (I am, guilty), you know what I mean. Taylor was hurt. Staggered. It was chaos. Serrano was pouring it on, the Garden was erupting, and Katie looked like she was hanging by threads.

But threads can hold if they’re made of the right stuff.

Rounds 7 to 10 were pure grit. Taylor found pockets, slipped punches, and started tagging Serrano with clean rights. It wasn’t dominance — it was survival with defiance. And it made for some of the most compelling rounds I’ve ever witnessed in women’s boxing. Not just for the action, but because both women refused to be broken. That’s rare.

That fight didn’t need twelve rounds to feel epic. It crammed a trilogy’s worth of drama into ten furious frames.

And when it went to the scorecards — 97-93, 96-93, 96-94 — there were boos, sure. But even Serrano knew what she’d been a part of. And Taylor? She’d just walked through hell and come out with every belt still draped over her shoulders.

Why It Mattered Beyond the Belts

This wasn’t just a big fight. This was the fight. Women’s boxing had been growing, sure. But for decades it lived in the shadows — short rounds, low pay, zero promotion. Taylor and Serrano smashed that ceiling with their fists and footwork and freakin’ heart.

Promoted by Matchroom and Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (say what you want — they got eyes on the product), this fight sold out MSG. That’s no small feat. Even more importantly, it made people stop using the word “women’s” as a qualifier. It wasn’t the best women’s fight of the year. It was the best fight of the year. Period.

Taylor talked about the pressure, the noise, the pride of walking to the ring with an Irish flag and a nation’s hopes on her back. And Amanda? She showed she’s not just a knockout machine — she’s a tactician with heart.

The rematch talk started before they even left the ring. That tells you everything.

Remember the Sound

I wasn’t in the building. Wish I was. But even through a screen, I could feel the volume — not just the crowd, but the moment itself. It was loud because it mattered. Loud because every punch was about more than scorecards. It was legacy in motion.

A few months later, Taylor went back to her quiet life. Serrano returned to the gym, talking rematch. And the rest of us? We rewatched the tape. Again. And again. Because that night at the Garden wasn’t a one-off. It was a line in the sand. A moment that said: this is what greatness looks like, no matter the gender.

What Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano did that night wasn’t just win fans — they made believers out of skeptics. And they didn’t do it with marketing. They did it with blood and brilliance.