By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/katie-taylor-vs-amanda-serrano-betting-odds-and-prediction-2/25802/
Katie Taylor of Ireland, the Undisputed World Female Super Lightweight Champion, will finally be facing Amanda Serrano of Puerto Rico in a long-awaited rematch this Friday, November 15th. The 10-rounder from Arlington, Texas can be seen live on Netflix in most nations. The two first met in April, 2022 with Taylor winning a hotly-disputed split decision to retain her IBC, WBC and WBO Lightweight Titles. She won the Undisputed Super Lightweight Belts in her last outing by edging Chantelle Cameron of England via a majority decision last November after dropping a majority decision to Cameron six months earlier. Serrano was last in the ring in July when she stopped Stevie Morgan in the second round. The fight can be seen on the undercard of the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson tilt.
The 38-year-old Taylor enters the ring with an impressive record of 23-1 with 6 Ko’s and has boxed 204 rounds since making her pro debut in 2016 following a wonderful amateur career. She won a gold medal at the 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 AIBA World Boxing Championships and also captured a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England. She returned to the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and lost in her first bout after receiving a bye in the first round of action.
Taylor is quite a celebrity in her homeland as she was honoured with the International Boxing Association (AIBA) World Female Boxer of the Year Award in 2010, the People of the Year Awards – Sportsperson of the Year and the RTÉ Sports Person of the Year in 2012 as well as the Irish Times/Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Year for 2014. Taylor has exceptional boxing skills but not much in the way of power as her current knockout ratio stands at just 26.1 per cent. Her last stoppage came in 2019 and she’s gone the distance in her last 11 outings.
Taylor stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 66-inch reach and won her first professional world title in 2017. She’s beaten some of the top female boxers over the years with wins over Cameron, Amanda Serrano, Anahi Esther Sanchez, Jessica McCaskill, Jennifer Han, Victoria Noelia Bustos, Cindy Serrano, Natasha Jonas, Eva Wahlstrom, Rose Volante, Delfine Persoon, and Christina Linardatou. Taylor has weighed between 132.5 lbs and 139.5 lbs as a pro and also captured the WBO World Female Super Lightweight Title along the way when she beat Christine Linardatou by unanimous decision in 2019.
Amanda Serrano is a 36-year-old southpaw who owns a fine record of 47-2-1 with 31 Ko’s and is the IBO and WBO Featherweight champion. She has 236 rounds of experience under her belt since turning pro in 2009 and now resides in Brooklyn, New York. She also has experience in wrestling and mixed martial arts. Serrano stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 65.5-inch reach and has very good power in her fists with a current knockout ratio of 66 per cent but has gone the distance in seven of her last eight fights and nine of the last 14.
Serrano is a former Staten Island, New York City Golden Gloves, and Empire State Amateur Champion and has won numerous regional and minor pro titles. Since turning pro, she’s also captured the WBC and IBO Featherweight Titles as well as the IBF World Female Super Featherweight, WBO World Female Lightweight, WBO World Female Super Bantamweight, WBO World Female Bantamweight, WBO World Female Super Lightweight, and WBO World Female Super Flyweight Titles.
Her first defeat came at the hands of Frida Walberg in April, 2012 when she lost by a 10-round unanimous decision in a shot at the WBC World Female Super Featherweight Title. She appeared to do enough to beat Katie Taylor in April, 2022, which was a fight-of-the-year candidate, but came out on the wrong end of a split decision for the IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO Lightweight Titles, while her draw came in 2009 in a four-round affair with Ela Nunez. Serrano has weighed between 118 and 138.5 lbs during her pro career and has actually won titles in seven different weight classes.
She also has wins over Sarah Mahfoud, Erika Cruz Hernandez, Kimberly Connor, Fatuma Zarika (twice), Calista Silgado, Yazmin Rivas, Dahianna Santana (twice), Marilyn Hernandez, Eva Voraberger, Daniela Bermudez and Yamileth Mercardo. Serrano has lost just once in the last 10 years over a span of 32 fights. All of her victories have come by way of stoppage or unanimous decision except for her pro debut which was a four-round majority decision over Jackie Trivilino.
Prediction…
This matchup features two of the top female pound-for-pound boxers in the world with the rounds being two minutes long. I scored the first meeting for Serrano and expect her to take the fight to Taylor once again but the champion is fine with that as she’s comfortable in that situation due to her excellent counter-punching. Serrano is naturally more aggressive and in the long run that could help on the scorecards since Taylor doesn’t really have the power to keep her at bay for 10 rounds. This should be another close fight and even though Taylor arguably has the better overall boxing skills I think if Serrano punches in volume and keeps after her for all 10 rounds she should do enough to dethrone her.
