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Sport

01st May 2022

Katie Taylor describes defeat over Serrano “best moment” of her career

Sarah McKenna Barry

The Bray boxer compared it to winning her Olympic gold.

Last night saw Irish boxer Katie Taylor reign supreme during her fight against Puerto Rican boxer Amanda Serrano in New York.

The pair squared off in Madison Square Garden to a crowd of thousands in a fight that would see Taylor successfully defend her unblemished record as the undisputed lightweight champion.

Serrano took control during the middle rounds, but the Bray boxer delivered an extraordinary comeback in the final four rounds.

As the bell tolled following the final 30 seconds, Taylor reigned supreme as the judges scored it 94-96, 97-93, 96-93, all in Katie’s favour.

The fight is Taylor’s 21st professional victory as she remains the undisputed lightweight champ.

During a press conference afterwards, Katie described the fight as the “best moment” of her career.

She said: “I think the most important thing is always to come out the winner, regardless of how I perform.

“Tonight was fantastic. I had to dig deep and produce a career-defining performance to actually win.”

Katie then applauded her opponent, saying: “What an amazing champion Amanda is, she’s a phenomenal fighter and we definitely got the best out of each other. Coming into this fight, they were saying it was the biggest fight in women’s boxing, but I think it exceeded it.”

She continued: “It was a special, special moment, the best night of my career.

“I was not sure if anything could reach my Olympic gold medal moment, but tonight was absolutely the best moment of my career.”

On some of the more challenging moments during the fight, Katie said that she “wasn’t worried”.

“I knew it was a tough, tough round and it was Amanda’s round,” she said. “But I wasn’t concerned and knew I was ok and stable coming back to the corner.”

She added: “I just had to regroup, reset and I actually won the next round, I believe. So regardless if it was a tough round for me or not, I always come back and show the heart I need to actually come through them.”