Given their last outing picked up ‘Fight of the Year’ accolades around the globe, Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano II has a lot to live up to, but if yesterday’s press conference is anything to go by it sure looks like it will.
The clash, which is the co-main event to Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson on July 20th 2024, will take place in front of 80,000 + people at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and that, coupled with the fact that it’s to stream live on Netflix, makes this an “iconic” event in the words of Taylor.
At yesterday’s press conference, hosted by renowned combat sports journalist, Ariel Helwani, fans got to hear from those involved ahead of the fight for the first time.
“The last fight myself and Amanda fought, it was an epic fight. It was in front of 20,000 people in Madison Square Garden. It felt like the whole of Puerto Rico and Ireland were there on the stage during that night and now we get to do it again in front of 100,000 people. This is amazing for the sport live on Netflix. Just thank you so much to MVP for giving us this opportunity. This is absolutely iconic,” she said.
Adding to the prestige of the occasion for the Bray woman is the chance to fight alongside one of the sport’s biggest names in Tyson, a reality that she isn’t letting pass her by.
“I just got a phone call from my manager Brian a few weeks ago saying I was going to be on the same card as Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. And this is just a dream for me. I think last year my family had said to me, what do you want to do before I retire? Is there anything I want to achieve in a sport or anybody who I'd want to meet? And one of the things I said is I'd love to meet Mike Tyson and here you beside me, an icon of the sport, a legend of the sport. And this is just incredible,” she said.
“He's just a legend and icon on the sport. And I fell in love with a sport in the nineties and Mike Tyson was the biggest name of boxing during that time. He was ferocious and is super exciting to watch and he's a real historian as well. I love your knowledge of boxing. I love listening…. I just cannot believe I'm sitting next to Mike Tyson right now. I'm pinching myself,” she added.
With bout two incoming, Taylor also took the time to mention that she doesn't intend for there to be a third meeting just yet.
“The trilogy is not on my mind right now. I beat her the first time, and I plan on beating her the second time,” she said.
On her opportunity to avenge her loss the first time out, Serrano put forward the idea that it was sort of written in the stars that herself and the Irish fighter would come to blows again.
“I think it was always going to happen because Katie and my name are always going to be attached to each other no matter what, and I'm glad to be a part of this to be alongside Katie Taylor. She's a great champion, but we're going to go out there and prove to the world that we deserve this platform,” she says.
Yearning for that platform to such a degree, Serrano explained why she moved to super lightweight class in order to make the fight happen.
“Listen, everyone knows I'm the unified featherweight champion. I've said it many times, anything over that [weight], it's hard for me. Obviously [at] 135, I [didn’t get the win against Katie], but for the opportunity to fight Katie Taylor [again], I took the fight [at] 140. Her team said, ‘you’ve got to do it at 140’. I really want the fight. The fight is for the fans, so greatness requires sacrifice. So once again, I'm sacrificing my body. I'm sacrificing everything to go up three divisions,” she said.
“The last time was two divisions. I believe I won. I heard Katie, I think going up another division, I can do the same thing. My power was going to come with me and this is a great opportunity for both of us and it is what it is. I just got to eat more. I’m a Latina, so I get to eat a lot more rice,” she concludes.
The Puerto Rican woman’s last schedule fight, her homecoming, had to be cancelled at the last minute due to an unforeseen eye injury, but she’s assured now that that won’t be an issue going forward.
“I'm one hundred percent fine. It was the eyelid; it wasn’t in the eyeball, so I'm completely fine. I'm good and ready to go on July 20th. I want to thank everybody at MVP, my trainer, Jordan Maldonado, Netflix, everybody, even Katie Taylor's team for making this happen,” she said.
“I'm super excited. We're going to be fighting in Jerry's world, so I'm excited and I can't wait till July 20th. I’ll become a two division undisputed champion. What can I say?”
Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano FACE OFF at the first press conference ahead of July 20th exclamation ‼️ #PaulTyson#TaylorSerrano
Saturday, July 20
AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
Live on @netflix pic.twitter.com/1lUWNyigdf— Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) May 13, 2024
