Katie Taylor Rejects Amanda Serrano & Jake Paul Proposal For 12 Three Minute Rounds
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
London, UK (February 9th, 2021)– Unified World Lightweight champion Katie Taylor, 20-0 with six knockouts, Bray, Ireland, has turned down a new proposal from World Featherweight champion Amanda Serrano and her co-manager Jake Paul to turn their April 30, 2022, Madison Square Garden DAZN titular showdown from a 10 round bout with two-minute rounds, to a 12 round bout with three-minute rounds. No word from Taylor’s promoter Eddie Hearn on the subject.
Even if Taylor agreed to the bout modification, it is unlikely, given the contracts have already been signed, and the rules and regulations of the New York State Boxing Commission, and the rules and regulations of the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation, and World Boxing Organisation, that the different groups would go for it at this point, with safety considerations for boxing females in mind, and the fact five different organizations would have to modify rules and contracts.
Serrano, 42-1-1 with 30 knockouts, Brooklyn, New York, will fight for Taylor’s titles at Madison Square Garden on April 30, 2022, in the biggest bout in women’s professional boxing history. Serrano and Arum feel, and rightly so, the fight should be elevated to a higher class and status worthy of the mega promotion. However, the contracts were already signed, and the bout’s distance and length of rounds already agreed to. Correctly stated, Serrano and Jake Paul (who also boxes) have a great point for male-female equality in pro boxing. They would have had a better chance if they had brought their ideas about female titular bout length and round length into immediate consideration when the contractual negotiations began, rather than after the contracts were agreed upon and signed by Taylor and Serrano. Amanda Serrano has a strong argument for female equality inside the ring. Her timing could not have been better, and no bout is more appropriate than Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano for as 12 round female world title bout with three minute rounds.
Amanda Serrano is absolutely right. She is the best female fighter in the world, along with Claressa Shields. Amanda Serrano has correctly identified the one opponent, Katie Taylor, who, when she fights her, has a super champion status as Amanda’s does. There is a time when an athlete has to step up to the plate and rise to the occasion. Like in chess, a women’s grandmaster does not have the same regard as a men’s grandmaster title, which is why many female chess grandmasters play for the full and complete men’s title instead.
Amanda Serrano and Jake Paul have the right idea.
The setting and the spectacular matchup are the correct bout for the first female world championship 12 rounder with three minute rounds. The champion normally does dictate terms. In Taylor’s defense, nobody in the Serrano apparently said anything about this idea when the original ten-rounder distance with two-minute rounds was proposed, and then later agreed upon.
The moral of the story is the day will soon come when Amanda Serrano will fight a world title bout with three-minute rounds, including against male opponents. For now, Katie versus Amanda is history-making and should be regarded in that contest. Women’s boxing has, without a big draw such as this will be, never earned the purses or and respect men’s boxing commands. Perhaps Amanda Serrano and Jake Paul as a promotional team collaboration are well on the way to changing the tide of public perception and gaining bigger purses and respect for female athletes overall, which is long overdue.
Serrano versus Taylor is not The Garden main event, as in the final bout of the evening, according to BoxRec. Taylor versus Serrano is the showcase DAZN bout, as such it would be considered the co-main event. Super welterweights Jessie Vargas and Liam Smith are scheduled to fight last on April 30, 2022, at The Garden, in the 12 round main event after the Taylor versus Serrano is over. Franchon Cruz Dezurn, 7-1 with two knockouts, Baltimore, Maryland, the unified World Female Super Middleweight champion, will defend her title against Elin Cederoos, 8-0 with four knockouts, Vasteras, Sweden, in a scheduled 10 rounder with two-minute rounds, in the bout before Taylor versus Serrano.
If Cruz Dezurn wins, she will be in line to defend her world title in a rematch of her lone loss against Claressa Shields, who defeated her in her pro debut, a four-round decision loss at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November 2016. If it happens, Franchon Cruz Dezurn against Claressa Shields II could be the next female world champion mega-fight for Dmitriy Salita and Salita Promotions. Perhaps that could be the first 12 round female world title bout with three-minute rounds, if it happens later in 2022, or maybe Amanda Serrano’s next bout. Who knows. This reporter saw a female pro bout that had three-minute rounds in Michigan a decade ago. The female combatants, who had expected two-minute rounds, appeared not to like the extended time of three minutes per round, but wound up going the six-round distance against each other. Taylor and Serrano, of course, are a whole different class of athlete as female super fighters.
At their London press conference, Taylor and Serrano had different views.
At the London United Kingdom press conference, Taylor remarked “I think we’re making a stand (boxing history) the way we’re fighting each other in the first place (at Madison Square Garden in a major title bout). The best (is) fighting the best. This fight is actually even more important than we realize. Not only are we breaking the ceiling (already established) with female purses, we’re actually changing perceptions (of how significant women’s boxing can be).”
After the London press conference to promote their bout, Serrano, on British soil, expressed her disappointment with Taylor’s rejection of her eleventh-hour bout extended time and rounds proposal. “I thought she (Katie Taylor) would have been on board with it (a 12 round female world title bout with three-minute rounds), because she’s always talking about equality and making a change for women’s boxing (as I do). I thought she would have been on board (with it) because this (title bout spectacular between me and Katie at Madison Square Garden on April 30, 2022) is our platform. This is our time to showcase women’s boxing, making history. Why don’t we just continue to make history together? We both deserve this platform. I thought it was going to be a different answer (she would agree with my idea).”
The mega bout between Taylor and Serrano most certainly is a start in the right direction for female boxers, their managers and promoters being candidates for multimillion dollar paydays. It is not exactly like Tyson Fury versus Saul Canelo Alvarez, but at least DAZN is on board with making the money right for Serrano and Taylor and their corners, based on their abilities and achievements.
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