Why a Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano trilogy fight is needed, along with a necessary rules adjustment

If you were one of the 74 million live viewers globally who watched Friday’s thrilling Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano rematch on Netflix, which amounts to the largest audience to ever watch a women’s professional sporting event in the U.S., there is good news. 

The best and biggest fight that either Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs), the 38-year-old Irish legend and undisputed 140-pound champion, or Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs), the 36-year-old southpaw from Puerto Rico who holds a boxing record for winning titles in seven weight divisions, can make next is against one another. 

For the second straight meeting, Taylor was narrowly able to edge Serrano, this time by a close and unanimous decision (95-94, 95-94, 95-94), when the two met last weekend over 10 enthralling rounds of non-stop action inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight was a rematch of their 2022 affair, billed as the biggest fight in women’s boxing history at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and went on to exceed expectations as Taylor hung on for a split decision. 

Both fights were instant classics and hailed immediately as fight of the year contenders. And the fact that their rematch served as the co-main event to Mike Tyson-Jake Paul, helped along by Serrano being promoted by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, meant that a record-breaking live audience (consisting largely of casual and curious non-boxing fans) got to tune in for not just boxing at its very best (before the farce that was the main event) but a rivalry that will long be known by the historic connection between both fighters.

In what has already become known as a renaissance era for women’s boxing, spearheaded in many ways by two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields, who has gone on to win titles in five divisions including undisputed status at two weight classes, Taylor and Serrano have become the perfect boxing dance partners akin to Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier or Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez on the men’s side. 

Both Taylor and Serrano will likely join Shields upon their collective retirements as members of the Mt. Rushmore of women’s boxing history (in a grouping that could also include the likes of Hall of Famers Laila Ali and/or Ann Wolfe) and their two fights together — despite Taylor winning both — have ended in contentious and disputed decisions. 

Serrano rocked Taylor in Round 5 of their first meeting and appeared to land the bigger punches overall, but the judges ultimately preferred the volume, pressure style of Taylor. But in the rematch, where Taylor was docked a point for headbutting after multiple collisions opened a nasty cut above Serrano’s right eye, the argument for Serrano winning was even more bombastic considering she landed 107 more punches, 44.1% of her punches overall and an absurd 58.2% of her power shots. 

While it’s very rare in combat sports to see a trilogy fight within a rivalry where one fighter was victorious in the first two meetings, this might be the exception given the contentious of the scorecards, the overall quality of the two fights and the fact that neither boxer has another option available for a fight even remotely as big or as important as against one another. 

But should the powers that be entertain the possibility of a trilogy fight, there are two key suggestions available to make the third one as compelling and big as possible.

First of all, considering Taylor won both matchups, the third fight should take place on Irish soil, particularly in Dublin’s Croke Park, the historic Gaelic games stadium which originally opened in 1880 and has long been coveted as a combat sports destination for not just Taylor, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, but MMA superstar Conor McGregor. Taylor’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has pushed for the venue in the past but has come up short due to the immense cost and local logistics that come with attempting to rent the 80,000-seat venue.

Taylor, who like Shields has reached four-belt undisputed status in two divisions, is an Irish sporting icon who deserves the opportunity for such a massive homecoming, particularly if it came in the form of an era-defining third fight with Serrano. Taylor’s professional career has also been nearly perfect save for a 2023 decision loss to former undisputed junior welterweight champion Chantelle Cameron, which Taylor heroically avenged in the rematch six months later in Dublin. 

But the second stipulation that would make the most sense for a third fight would involve the ruleset. 

Despite how much women’s boxing has grown over the past decade, the majority of sport on a global level uses the outdated rules of 10, two-minute rounds for championship bouts rather than the longstanding tradition of 12, three-minute rounds for the men. Serrano, who has been a vocal advocate for all four of boxing’s sanctioning bodies to universally adopt the men’s ruleset in order to gain equality, twice pushed for both Taylor fights to feature three-minute rounds and both times was denied by Taylor. 

For as much excitement as Taylor and Serrano have proven they can jam into two-minute rounds against one another, the truth is that shorter rounds featuring this much action are incredibly difficult to score for judges. The two-minute rounds favor Taylor’s natural high-volume style and limit the success that Serrano, the naturally bigger puncher despite currently being the unified featherweight champion, can have in terms of her power. 

If Taylor and Serrano had fought both of their first two bouts under men’s rules, it’s not difficult to assume that Serrano could’ve scored knockdowns or altered the result altogether by having an additional minute per round to hurt and possibly finish the durable Taylor. 

Serrano may have won nine world titles in an astounding seven divisions between 118 and 140 pounds over her 15-year pro career, but she has largely campaigned at 126 pounds over the past five years, which gives Taylor the natural advantage in the sense that it’s Serrano who must alter her body and move up in weight for the Taylor series to happen.    

But even more than potentially leveling the playing field by adapting out of such outdated rules, both Taylor and Serrano would have the opportunity to set a new precedent moving forward by agreeing to the new rules in a form of solidarity for the future of women’s boxing.

This era of elite women’s boxers, which also includes the likes of Seniesa Estrada, Mikaela Mayer, Jessica McCaskill, Savannah Marshall and Alycia Baumgardner, has already done so much to raise the profile of females in the sport by how consistently so many of them have become main event attractions. But imagine how much closer these athletes could get toward the idea of true equality with the men’s side should Taylor and Serrano, fresh off of such a record-breaking rematch, make a stand regarding upgrading such an archaic ruleset? 

This isn’t about unnecessarily extending a rivalry simply for the hope of giving Serrano a chance to finally secure a victory over her most important rival after two bad-luck decisions. Instead, this is more about adding to the grand history that two of the sport’s all-time greats have already created against one another in hopes of helping the sport take a much-needed leap into the future.