The world’s top two female boxers will square off in New York on Saturday and the home fighter wants to inspire a generation
Amanda Serrano is on top of the world – that’s how it feels, anyway, standing on the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building on a misty Tuesday afternoon. As the seven-division champion from Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighbourhood poses for photographs, the city unspools behind her, offering an evocative glimpse of Madison Square Garden. In the storied venue’s 140 years of hosting boxing, a women’s fight has never headlined a card – until Saturday night, when Serrano will climb through the ropes to challenge Ireland’s Katie Taylor for the undisputed lightweight championship.
The fight has been billed as the biggest in women’s boxing history – perhaps in recent boxing history, period. Serrano and Taylor are the world’s top two female boxers regardless of weight. The last time the pound-for-pound No 1 and No 2 squared off was more than a decade ago when Manny Pacquiao defeated Juan Manuel Márquez by split decision in 2008.
Such a long-awaited showdown marks an unparalleled height in Serrano’s already lofty career. “It means everything, you know, I worked so hard,” Serrano told the Guardian. “And I couldn’t ask for a better partner than Katie Taylor – she’s well-deserving, she’s an Olympic gold medalist and undisputed champion. You have pound-for-pound No 1, No 2, going at it. I’m excited to see who’s the best.”
At 33, Serrano has achieved nearly everything a fighter could hope for. With a professional record of 42-1-1, the heavy-handed southpaw has captured nine major world titles across every weight from 115lbs to 140 lbs. Only Pacquiao, an eight-division champion, held belts in more. Serrano’s 30 career knockouts is thought to be second in women’s boxing history to Christy Martin’s 32.
Yet Serrano has spent most of that decorated career unknown to all but hardcore boxing fans, pushed to the shadows by the same obstacles facing countless other female fighters. “Getting promoters, getting networks wanting to promote us and take chances with us, it was unheard of,” Serrano said. “People didn’t want to help us.”
Routinely, a woman fighter might make a few thousand dollars where – with comparable accolades, for a comparable matchup – a man netted nearly a million. That has led many female boxers to pivot to mixed martial arts, which boasted superior parity in both pay and promotion. Serrano herself made the switch temporarily, starting with a draw in 2018 then winning twice in a row – including once by submission – before returning to the boxing ring.
The debut of women’s boxing in the Olympics in 2012 was a major boon for female fighters, the world stage offering newfound visibility and respect – winning gold in London in the lightweight event, Taylor emerged as an immediate star. Serrano, however, had turned professional three years prior, so was unable to compete under the sport’s then-amateur requirement, which remained in place until 2016.
That has all changed in recent years as promoters have started to throw their weight behind female boxers, none more than Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn, who promotes Taylor.
“Katie Taylor, she made sure Eddie Hearn put her on DAZN, so that was an opener,” Serrano said. “And we had more of that … we had Showtime putting women on, and Top Rank and all these promoters starting to play women little by little. A lot more people support women, are going out there.“
