Taylor: I've been wanting to fight Serrano for a long time

Kathy Taylor and Amanda Serrano
Kathy Taylor and Amanda Serrano

Kathy Taylor admits that he is not going to start any trash talk to Amanda Serrano ahead of their April fight, mostly because she doesn't think she's good at it.

Taylor and Serrano appeared at a press conference atop a skyscraper in the City of London's financial district on Monday to officially announce their fight on April 30 for the undisputed world lightweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The couple treated each other with respect, and Taylor claims that this is unlikely to change before the fight.

“We don’t talk nonsense, and I’m not going to do it now, because I’m very bad at it,” Taylor said. “The relationship between us is very professional. We respect each other because we look forward to the opportunity to make history. We both believe that we will win. Perhaps somewhere inside I thought about what I could say, but I never tried to do it.

Negotiations for a Taylor-Serrano bout began back in 2018, after Taylor defeated Serrano's sister, Cindy. Their duel, according to the media, was close in the summer of 2020, the deal was agreed, but the Covid pandemic intervened.

"I'm actually glad the fight fell through a couple of years ago," Taylor said. - The fight will now be bigger than ever. It was supposed to happen at her home arena, but that fight fell through, and I fought in a rematch with [Delfina] Persun."

“Since I turned pro, I have not taken my eyes off two rivals: one was Persun, and the other was Amanda Serrano. I have wanted this fight for a long time. I always wanted to participate in the most difficult fights, so I wanted this from the very beginning.

The Irishwoman claims that the title fight and the main event at the Madison Square Garden arena helped to realize her ambitions when she first turned professional after the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“When I first spoke to Eddie Hearn about going pro, I told him that I want girls in women's boxing to do what the UFC does, namely Ronda Rousey and others like her, headline the evenings and become the biggest names. In sports. And here we are headlining the huge arena at Madison Square Garden, the mecca of boxing."

“Of course, I hoped and believed that this would happen, but I knew that it would require a lot of hard work. We've definitely crossed a lot of barriers over the past few years and the fact that this ticket's presale is the second largest in Madison Square Garden's history speaks for itself. This fight is even more important than we think."

“Of course, we are rewriting history. She has an amazing track record. She did amazing things in the sport and this fight has been called the biggest fight in the history of women's boxing, and rightly so."

Despite Serrano living in Brooklyn, just a 30-minute subway ride from the arena, Taylor doesn't believe Serrano's fight day support will be all-out.

“I think there will be a lot of Irish people in the room,” Taylor said. — A couple of times when I boxed at Madison Square Garden, the Irish cheered very loudly, and I saw flags all over the arena. I expect the same April 30th. It's strange that we both proudly represent small countries that achieve so much in the ring."

“She certainly follows in the footsteps of great Puerto Ricans like Miguel Cotto and Tito Trinidad, and I follow guys like Wayne McCulloch, Barry McGuigan, Steve Collins and Carl Frampton. We bring this legacy to our meeting, and it is clear that our countries are behind us.”