Serrano super-fight could come before Persoon rematch for Taylor

Katie Taylor and her team say a rematch with Delfine Persoon is very much in their plans, though a deal is preliminarily in place for a fight with Amanda Serrano later this year.

There have been calls for an immediate rerun of last weekend’s lightweight clash at Madison Square Garden, in which Taylor became undisputed champion with a win over the WBC titlist.

Consternation from the Belgian camp took a more formal turn this week, with confirmation that an appeal will be lodged in relation to Saturday’s majority decision ruling.

“The rematch is inevitable,” says manager Brian Peters.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that Katie wants it. But last October, we started with Cindy Serrano, and that was with a view to building up the super-fight with her sister [Amanda]. She is our preferred choice for this year.

The Serrano fight has long been on the radar for the Bray native, although social media exchanges between the pair had appeared to put the prospect of a potential meeting on ice.

Peters, however, maintains that seven-weight champion Serrano has contractually committed to the match-up.

“She’s signed, the deal is done, purse agreed.

“She’s due one more fight, and then she has to fight Katie Taylor.”

The bout is said to be mooted for MSG’s Hulu Theater in late 2019, and would potentially serve as Taylor’s first headline bout in America.

Her burgeoning U.S. brand grew further still after what was a sure-fire fight of the year nominee on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz.

Following a night of drama at the feted New York venue, Taylor says it took a while for the magnitude of her achievement to hit home.

“Is he here?👀 “

Thankfully, Katie Taylor managed to finally shake off Shane Ross somewhere outside Dunshaughlin. pic.twitter.com/8rhvYNNCGI

— Gavan Casey (@GavanCasey) June 6, 2019

“It was probably the next day, when I was with my family,” she reflected, having become just the seventh fighter in history to unite the four major belts.

“Just to have these titles is absolutely amazing, it’s something I dreamed of since I turned professional. When we’re talking about how far I’ve come over the last couple of years, that’s where it really hit me. And to do it at MSG, the mecca of boxing, in a fight of the year contender, was fantastic. I don’t want to be involved in too many of those fights though! What an absolute battle!”

In addressing the perceived question marks cast over the validity of her win, Taylor contended that she did enough to merit the nod.

“I have seen some negative reaction, but I haven’t seen the fight back myself. I knew at the time it was very close.

“We knew all along it would be tough, and we were prepared for that. We were confident we did enough early on to win the fight.

“It could have gone either way, there’s no doubt about it. But the cleaner work came from me, I was the deserving winner. I’m sitting here as the defending champion, and I’m not really too concerned about what other people are saying. The opinions I do care about are from those closest to me. That’s what matters.”