Whatever the Thrilla in Manila was, this wasn't that. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, who previously gave the world two of the greatest fights in recent memory, delivered a comparative stinker while capping off their trilogy atop the bill of the first all-women’s professional boxing card on Friday at the sweet science's holiest room, Madison Square Garden.
Taylor, in what could be the final bout of her incredible career, took a majority decision over Serrano after 10 mostly lackluster two-minute rounds. Judge Mark Lyson scored the fight a 95-95 draw, while Steve Weisfeld and Nicolas Esnault both had Taylor winning easily, 97-93. With the win, Taylor holds onto her undisputed super-lightweight championship.
Plainly, on the biggest night not only of Serrano and Taylor's careers but also women's boxing history—along with being the first female trilogy fight that ever mattered, the Taylor fight was the main event on a card packed with eight women's title fights in front of an absolutely raucous arena—Serrano didn't come to fight.
The 36-year-old Puerto Rican star said her mantra going in was "Fight smarter, not harder." She spent most of the fight throwing punches in Taylor's direction from such a distance that it appeared she had no real intention of landing them, the sort of air punches fighters throw alone in front of a mirror while working on their form.
Serrano can't be faulted for trying a new and drastically different approach this time against Taylor; she withstood brutal beatings in her previous two encounters with the Irish champion, both of which she spent throwing haymakers at Taylor and absorbing them from her from first bell to last. In their second bout, in November 2024 on the Tyson–Paul undercard in Dallas, Serrano left the ring with a horrific gash above her right eye, a wound that started with a third-round headbutt and then grew progressively and grotesquely wider round by round from more head clashes and Taylor's relentless pounding. And after 20 rounds in the ring together, all that Serrano had to show for taking the "The only defense is a good offense!" tack were literal battle scars and two losses.
Serrano's non-offensive arm movements did keep Taylor somewhat at a distance for most of the bout, and prevented the relentless attacks from the Irish champ that made their first two fights instantly immortal. But Serrano didn't launch enough genuine sorties of her own to make a fight of things.
It takes two to not tango, also, and Taylor, who had also absorbed enormous punishment in the first two chapters of their story, decided early on to not force the action any more than she had to. But Taylor, who looked incredibly light on her feet and fit all night long, had the advantage of already being champion. To quote ring sage Ric Flair, if you wanna be the man, you gotta beat the man. The overcoached, underactive style that Serrano adopted for the Garden bout on Friday gave her no chance to capture Taylor's undisputed title barring a knockout. According to digital punch-counter CompuBox, Serrano landed fewer punches in all 10 rounds combined this time around than she did in just the 10th round alone of their epic November tussle.
Lots of women's boxing fans have been clamoring for some time for the distaff version of the sweet science to join the men and go to three-minute rounds. And Taylor–Serrano III, where every round seemed to end just as fisticuffs were finally on the verge of ensuing, might be the bout that forces the time change.
Yet for all its boxing banality, Taylor–Serrano III delivered in sporting significance and what used to be hailed weekly during the intro to ABC's Wide World of Sports as "the human drama of athletic competition." The goodwill tanks for these two combatants runneth over. The crowd, which seemed split down the middle rooting-wise, didn't seem bothered by the relative lack of blood and guts spilled in the ring, and cheered throughout the fight like what they were watching mattered.
While Serrano's camp whined loud and long about the previous two fight decisions, on this night she accepted the loss through tears.
"I tried to keep my distance, tried not to go in there and fight with her because apparently it didn't work the first two fights,’" Serrano said in the ring. "So we tried to stick with the longer punches, the 1-2s, and I guess it just wasn't enough."
Serrano was incredibly gracious and thankful for all the renown, and surely cash, the fights with Taylor have brought her and the sport she loves. Her career record now stands at 47-4-1, with 31 KOs, with three of the four losses to the same woman.
This time around, the gripes came from Eddie Hearn, Taylor's longtime promoter. Hearn was wondering aloud how the hell one judge, Tyson, saw enough rounds going in Serrano's favor to score the fight a draw.
"How do you give Amanda Serrano five rounds in that fight?" Hearn railed, adding that by the halfway point the challenger "conceded the fight."
Taylor was as gushing and tearful as Serrano when talking about her partner in pugilism and their shared journey. "What an amazing fighter. We've made history again, three times. It's such an historic fight," Taylor said, her voice cracking. "We're history makers forever and my name is [linked] with Amanda's forever and I'm so happy about that." Serrano, hearing Taylor’s words, walked over and hugged the woman she'd slugged so many times the past three years.
Asked about her future, Taylor, with a 25-1-0 career record as a pro, said she's not sure she'll ever get back in the ring.
"It's not like I have anything left to prove," she said.
But even if Taylor decides to lace up the gloves again, there'll be no quad.
"I just don't want to fight Amanda Serrano again," Taylor said. "She punches too hard."
