The wry grin pasted across Katie Taylor’s bruised, swollen face told the whole story. Ireland’s greatest athlete had just navigated the deepest waters of her career to roar back from near-defeat and retain her undisputed lightweight championship with a split-decision win over, a heart-stopping affair before a sold-out crowd of 19,187 rollicking spectators that Taylor described as a “career-defining performance”.
Through the opening rounds Taylor relied on her superior hand and foot speed to ward off the heavy-handed Serrano’s unsparing pressure, opening an early lead while boxing beautifully off the back foot. But Serrano hurt Taylor badly after finally cornering her elusive foe early in the fifth, leaving the champion bloodied, seemingly exhausted and fortunate to escape the round.
From there Taylor delivered the finishing kick of a champion, winning the final three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards to keep her WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO lightweight titles. The exceptional quality, narrow margin and smashing business of Saturday’s fight – a long awaited showdown between the consensus number one and number two fighters on women’s boxing’s pound-for-pound list – all but ensures a rematch. Even in the immediate aftermath, Taylor was quick to embrace the prospect.
IrishTimes Bring it to the Aviva.