LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau was full of praise for Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano after their thrilling and controversial world title clash on the undercard of Jake Paul’s drab victory over Mike Tyson.
The headline clash between the YouTuber-turned-boxer and the former heavyweight world champion gained huge hype in the build-up, but it proved to be a deeply underwhelming mismatch, with 58-year-old Tyson unable to compete physically with a man 31 years his junior.
Instead, it was the undisputed light welterweight clash between all-time-greats Taylor and Serrano that stole the show. Irish sporting legend Taylor got the nod on the judges’ scorecards, despite having a point deducted in the eighth round for a headbutt – and many viewers believed Puerto Rican hero Serrano did enough to avenge her 2022 defeat to Taylor.
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Regardless of the outcome, DeChambeau lauded both women for their performances. “Serrano vs Taylor was one of the best competitive boxing matches I’ve ever seen,” he posted on social media.
Taylor, 38, was defending the belts she regained last year by avenging her defeat to Chantelle Cameron – the only woman to defeat the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the pro ranks – but it seemed Serrano was having the better of the exchanges. And when Taylor had a point taken away in the eighth after numerous head clashes between the pair left Serrano with a huge cut above her right eye, the seven-weight world champion appeared on course for victory.
Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano put on a show on Friday night (
Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix)
But Taylor dug deep to the end, with the warriors trading blows in the center of the ring. Both fighters raised their hands at the final bell, convinced they had done enough to win. But this was a case of repeat rather than revenge, with Taylor a 95-94 winner on all three scorecards.
“I knew they obviously complaining about the decision, but I really don’t care. I’m standing here as a victor again,” she said at the post-fight press conference. “I fought her twice, I beat her twice. All the judges were in agreement. So I really couldn’t care less what’s being said about the fight. I’m standing here again, I’m 2-0 against Serrano and I’m very, very happy.”
Nakisa Bidarian, Serrano’s promoter, disagreed. He said: “I would like to point out that the betting markets in the 10th round had it as -350 for Amanda to win.
“I thought Katie implemented her game plan well, but it was a dirty fight. She used her head to lead every single minute of every round and Amanda did her best to fight back, but she was at a disadvantage and the ref didn’t stop the headbutts.
“He took up a point away way too late and she continued to do the headbutting, continued to do the holding. Just felt that the ref didn’t protect her. The ref didn’t put her in her position to win, and they should have taken away more than one point for what that woman was doing in the ring tonight.”
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