Taylor v Serrano: quick facts
- When: 30 April 2022, Madison Square Garden, New York.
- Why it mattered: the first women’s fight ever to headline Madison Square Garden, billed as the biggest women’s fight of all time.
- Result: Katie Taylor won a split decision over ten rounds to keep her undisputed lightweight titles.
- The sequels: Taylor won the rematch in November 2024, watched live by an estimated 74 million people, and the trilogy fight back at Madison Square Garden in July 2025.
For more than a century, Madison Square Garden has hosted the biggest nights in boxing. On 30 April 2022, for the first time, two women topped the bill. One of them was a girl from Bray who had once had to pretend to be a boy to get a fight.
Who is Katie Taylor?
Katie Taylor is from Bray, Co. Wicklow, and is one of the greatest athletes Ireland has ever produced. She started boxing as a child, trained by her father Pete, at a time when women’s boxing wasn’t even officially allowed in Ireland. She was also a talented footballer and played for the Republic of Ireland women’s team.
She won five world amateur titles and, in 2012, Olympic gold in London, when women’s boxing appeared at the Olympics for the first time. The whole of Ireland stopped to watch, and the noise from the Irish fans in the arena became famous in its own right. She then turned professional and became undisputed world lightweight champion.
The fight
Amanda Serrano, from Puerto Rico, was a world champion in seven different weight classes, one of the most accomplished fighters in the sport. With a sold-out Garden and a huge Irish and Puerto Rican crowd, the atmosphere was electric.
It was a brutal, thrilling fight. In the fifth round, Serrano hurt Taylor badly and it looked like it could be over. But Taylor survived, came back, and finished the fight stronger, winning the later rounds. After ten rounds, two judges scored it for Taylor (97-93 and 96-93) and one for Serrano (96-94). Taylor had kept her titles, and both women had made history.
Why it went viral
The fight was watched around the world and widely called one of the best fights of the year, by men or women. Clips of the fifth round and the final bell were shared millions of times. For women’s sport, it was a turning point: proof that women’s boxing could fill the biggest arena in the business.
Two more fights, two more wins
The rivalry was so good it happened twice more. In November 2024, in Arlington, Texas, Taylor won the rematch on a card streamed by Netflix, with an estimated 74 million people watching live, the most-watched professional women’s sports event in US history. In July 2025, they returned to Madison Square Garden for a third fight, and Taylor won again.
Katie Taylor FAQ
Where is Katie Taylor from?
Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Did Katie Taylor beat Amanda Serrano?
Yes, three times: in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
When did Katie Taylor win Olympic gold?
At the London 2012 Olympics, the first Games to include women’s boxing.
More Irish sporting moments
- Ireland v the All Blacks, Chicago 2016
- Shane Lowry’s Open win at Royal Portrush
- The Irish fans who won over Europe
Featured photo: Katie Taylor at the London 2012 Olympics, by cormac70, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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