KATIE TAYLOR WILL defend her undisputed lightweight title in Liverpool in what should be her final fight before finally squaring off with career-long nemesis Amanda Serrano in New York next spring.
Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed tonight that Taylor will return to the ring on Merseyside on 11 December, co-headlining a Matchroom show alongside up-and-coming English star Conor Benn live on DAZN.
Her opponent is unlikely to be Liverpudlian Natasha Jonas in rematch of their May thriller, however, as Jonas is understood to be in the process of parting company with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom and signing with Sky’s new affiliate promotional company.
Taylor [19-0, 6KOs] will instead likely face another mandatory challenger in what will hopefully, from an Irish perspective, transpire to be just a warm-up for a 50-50 fight versus seven-weight world champion Serrano.
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However, one such challenger could theoretically be Estelle Yoka-Mossely of France, who shocked Taylor in their 2016 World Championship semi-final and replaced her as 60kg Olympic champion at the Rio just a few months later. Yoka-Mossely, 29, currently boasts a professional record of 9-0 since turning over two years after Taylor in 2018.
Taylor, 35, has been chasing a women’s superfight with Puerto Rican-Brooklynite Serrano [41-1-1, 30KOs] for several years, with the fight even being announced for Manchester last year only to be kiboshed by the pandemic and, specifically, Serrano’s withdrawal on account of lockdown restrictions on both sides of the Atlantic.
Brooklyn’s ‘Real Deal’, 33, has generally tried to hold out for a better deal since the fight was first mooted during the early stages of Taylor’s professional career, by which stage powerful southpaw Serrano was already a multiple-weight world champion and veteran.
However, she recently joined forces with YouTube star Jake Paul, whose team are currently representing her in negotiations with Hearn in a bid to create the biggest women’s professional fight in history.
If it comes off, Taylor-Serrano would take place in April 2022 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with whom Hearn has already held talks. The Matchroom promoter has previously indicated to The42 that he wants the fight to take place ‘upstairs’ in the 20,000-capacity main arena, as opposed to ‘downstairs’ in the 5,000-capacity Theatre.
Jake Paul, who has become one of boxing’s biggest and most lucrative draws much to chagrin of many traditionalists, could also potentially fight on the card.
However, Paul is first eyeing up an outing in January, with Serrano also likely to return to the ring on that as-of-yet unconfirmed show in a final outing before a potential career-defining showdown with Taylor.
- Updated at 21:28 won Saturday 30 October with confirmation from Eddie Hearn. Originally published on Thursday 29 October.
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Katie Taylor to fight in Liverpool in December before potential career-biggest showdown with Serrano
LAST UPDATE | 30 Oct 2021
KATIE TAYLOR WILL defend her undisputed lightweight title in Liverpool in what should be her final fight before finally squaring off with career-long nemesis Amanda Serrano in New York next spring.
Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed tonight that Taylor will return to the ring on Merseyside on 11 December, co-headlining a Matchroom show alongside up-and-coming English star Conor Benn live on DAZN.
Her opponent is unlikely to be Liverpudlian Natasha Jonas in rematch of their May thriller, however, as Jonas is understood to be in the process of parting company with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom and signing with Sky’s new affiliate promotional company.
Taylor [19-0, 6KOs] will instead likely face another mandatory challenger in what will hopefully, from an Irish perspective, transpire to be just a warm-up for a 50-50 fight versus seven-weight world champion Serrano.
However, one such challenger could theoretically be Estelle Yoka-Mossely of France, who shocked Taylor in their 2016 World Championship semi-final and replaced her as 60kg Olympic champion at the Rio just a few months later. Yoka-Mossely, 29, currently boasts a professional record of 9-0 since turning over two years after Taylor in 2018.
Taylor, 35, has been chasing a women’s superfight with Puerto Rican-Brooklynite Serrano [41-1-1, 30KOs] for several years, with the fight even being announced for Manchester last year only to be kiboshed by the pandemic and, specifically, Serrano’s withdrawal on account of lockdown restrictions on both sides of the Atlantic.
Brooklyn’s ‘Real Deal’, 33, has generally tried to hold out for a better deal since the fight was first mooted during the early stages of Taylor’s professional career, by which stage powerful southpaw Serrano was already a multiple-weight world champion and veteran.
However, she recently joined forces with YouTube star Jake Paul, whose team are currently representing her in negotiations with Hearn in a bid to create the biggest women’s professional fight in history.
If it comes off, Taylor-Serrano would take place in April 2022 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with whom Hearn has already held talks. The Matchroom promoter has previously indicated to The42 that he wants the fight to take place ‘upstairs’ in the 20,000-capacity main arena, as opposed to ‘downstairs’ in the 5,000-capacity Theatre.
Jake Paul, who has become one of boxing’s biggest and most lucrative draws much to chagrin of many traditionalists, could also potentially fight on the card.
However, Paul is first eyeing up an outing in January, with Serrano also likely to return to the ring on that as-of-yet unconfirmed show in a final outing before a potential career-defining showdown with Taylor.
- Updated at 21:28 won Saturday 30 October with confirmation from Eddie Hearn. Originally published on Thursday 29 October.
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