Katie Taylor has successfully defended her Undisputed Lightweight Championship in an all-time classic fight against the Unified Featherweight Champion Amanda Serrano. The bout was really close as both women went strength to strength throughout the contest.
Ultimately the defending champion got the judges’ nod in a split decision victory. Two scorecards were in favour of Katie Taylor (97-93, 96-93) and the third judge gave it to Serrano as he had it 94-96. This has created some controversy as some are calling it a robbery. Was it though? Let’s take look at the stats to see if there is any validity to the claim or not.
Katie Taylor SD Amanda Serrano official scorecards… pic.twitter.com/f2NG7LkGJ4
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) May 1, 2022
Despite having two of the most decorated female boxers in the ring, it was far from being a technical fight. Neither fighter even tried to take the route of being cautious. Whenever there’s a brawl such as this, the scorecards are always in question. However, this time the judges may just have got it wrong indeed.
Neither competitor had any success with the jab. While the champ only landed 1 jab out of the attempted 61. Serrano landed only 2 out of 150. The Irish fighter was also outdone in terms of power shots. 146 of her power shots found their addresses out of an attempted 314. While Serrano landed 171 of 474. The challenger was ultimately the more active fighter as she outworked Katie by landing 173 (out of 624 punches) to Taylor’s 147 (out of 375 punches). (stats via The Ring)
Amanda Serrano also had the champ on the ropes a few times during the fight. She pushed the pace in the fourth and the fifth round. The 33-year-old almost came close to stopping Katie Taylor as well. Whereas Taylor never rattled Serrano as badly. Hence, the judges may have given her the champion’s advantage while scoring the fight.
Jake Paul says Katie Taylor’s win over Amanda Serrano was a “robbery” and calls for the rematch…
[????️ @JakePaul] pic.twitter.com/FnND8gyGfr
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) May 1, 2022
But it can not be called a robbery because neither fighter dominated the other handily. Although the result may have upset a few, the competitive nature of the bout rules out the claims of a robbery.
Will there be a rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano?
Following the highly entertaining bout, both promoters, Eddie Hearn and Jake Paul got together in the ring. Paul disagreed with the verdict as he thought Amanda Serrano had done enough to secure the win. Backstage after the fight, Eddie Hearn stated that there will be a rematch. The British promoter said,
“I think everybody is gonna want to see that fight….sometimes you need each other. What other fight could Amanda Serrano take that could be anywhere near as big? It may be. (But) what other fight could Katie take that could be anywhere near as big?”
Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor tore the house down with their fight today. Hence, the prospect of them clashing once again will really be exciting to the boxing fans. However, Hearn did not comment on when they may share the ring once again. Although both were fatigued at the end of the fight, neither seemed badly injured. As a result, the rematch may very well take place this year itself.
