Katie Taylor retained her WBA and IBF lightweight world titles in front of an estimated crowd of 8,000, in Boston’s TD Garden. Taylor beat Puerto Rican Cindy Serrano on unanimous decision, after all three judges scored the fight 100-90 in her favour..
The Bray superstar now sees her perfect professional record extend to 11 wins in what was her most comfortable fight to date. Serrano offered little threat or resistance in a bout completely dominated by Taylor, from start to finish.
Final warm up on the pads for Katie Taylor ahead of her World title defence against Cindy Serrano up next here at the @tdgarden in Boston live on @DAZN_USA and @SkySportsBoxing #TaylorSerrano pic.twitter.com/o6X2tP8HIp
— Katie Taylor (@KatieTaylor) October 21, 2018
Despite Serrano being the more experienced fighter, with 35 fights under her belt, it was Taylor who was the aggressor and dominated the exchanges. Serrano was on the back-foot the entire fight, merely looking to survive the full 10-rounds.
Taylor spoke of her frustration at her opponent’s tactics, as she went through a rigorous pre-fight camp in the build up to the bout.
"I got quite bored half way through the fight, actually. She really wasn’t doing much at all. I was very, very surprised. I had a lot of respect for Cindy coming into this fight.
She was very defensive and I expected a lot more from her. It is very hard to take something out of it because she was so defensive. It was obvious that she just wanted to survive from early on. A win is a win and we will move on.”
The first few rounds were cagey as both fighters were wary of being caught cold. Soon however Taylor began to up the ante as she became aware of Serrano’s lack of threat.
The 2012 Olympic Champion began to dominate the ring and began to land her a flurry of punches, including her trademark right-hand, left-hook combination.
Taylor had Serrano on the ropes on several occasions as she mixed up her shots brilliantly aiming for the body on numerous occasions. The Irish boxing superstar was by far the more technical boxer with superior hand-speed, power and footwork.
Round seven depicted just how easy the fight was for Taylor as her frustration grew at the Puerto Rican’s lack of ambition. Taylor‘s boredom prompted her to throw in some showboating as she held her hands behind her back, taunting her sheepish counterpart to engage with her.
Eventually, the fight came to a close and there was only ever going to be one winner. Taylor was announced as the winner in front of a jubilant crowd, in what was one of the most one-sided of Taylor's World championship fights.
Next up for the 32-year old, according to promoter Eddie Hearn, is either Rose Volante or Delfine Persoon, the current WBO and WBC title holders. The fight will either take place in New York's Madison Square Garden on December 15 or London's 02 Arena on December 22.
