A brawl, a victory and history. How Katie Taylor reigned supreme on the greatest stage

 Katie Taylor of Ireland (L) trades punches with Amanda Serrano of Puerto Rico (R) for the World Lightweight Title fight at Madison Square Garden  (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Maybe we should have seen it coming at the weigh-in on Friday.

Katie Taylor’s name was announced and from my vantage point across the room from where she waited to enter stage right, I could just about make out her face between the slightly taller bodies of management and event security.

She lingered a while as the almost 2,000 fans in attendance worked themselves into a frenzy. A pair of violinists ramped the Irishness up and on a cue that she knew and which must have been discussed at length behind the scenes, she slowly walked up the steps and accepted the adulation.

This was a rehearsal; we should have seen it coming.

All week, the media focus was itself a focus, how Taylor and her opponent Amanda Serrano hated the attention and the spotlight, a necessary evil to sell out this history-making showdown for the sport of boxing.

Yet here she was giving the visiting Irish what they wanted, mercifully stopping short of cupping her ears. She lapped it up and dished a little out. She never flinched during the face-off from which Serrano stepped away first. Pantomime stuff, yeah, but would it have helped us see what was coming down the track a day later?

At the Empire State Building on Tuesday, the two fighters shared jokes about how to move a ceremonial lighting lever. Southpaw Serrano got to do it with her left and then they had to do it twice because why not pile nonsense on top of more nonsense?

And maybe we should have seen it coming when she seemed surprisingly at ease making appearances like the one on NBC’s morning time staple, The Today Show, beamed into millions of American homes, not many of them boxing households.

She was at ease when Matchroom made her do a private audience with the Irish media in a side room on Thursday. She was relaxed and funny. Jabs at Jake Paul and Eddie Hearn, at Ricky Hatton’s weight and at Jordan Maldonado’s trash talk.

It’s always astonishing to see the transformation in a boxer’s face when we lose sight of it for almost 36 hours, that deeply uncertain period of time after the stress of making weight and before the ringwalk. They finally get to focus on the task at hand without being bothered by the people that matter the least.

On the large screen above the ring on Saturday evening, footage of Taylor and Serrano arriving to the Garden two hours before first bell got the half full arena giddy with excitement. The rival hordes of Irish and Puerto Rican fans bounced off each other, good naturedly. But the slightly less numerous Nuyoricans claimed a majority decision on their chant choices alone. (For the record, Taylor’s victory automatically forbids easy potshots at Ole, Ole, Ole. 48-hour amnesty in effect.) Serrano looked happier than she looked all week, by a distance. On reflection, maybe she had reached a state of zen where there was nothing to lose becasue she has secured a massive payday to step up to a weight for which she wasn't built. Taylor’s eyes were dark, unflinching. Her jaw was unmoving. She sauntered slowly towards her quarters, rehearsing for what was to come.

Later more footage emerged of her listening intently to the referee’s pre-fight instructions, always a fun and faux-insightful way to build boxing drama.

All week, as we wondered whether or not the arena would reach capacity, we took the promoters and MSG at face value when they instructed us to watch the walk-ups, the late ticket buyers arriving on a whim. That’s when the sellout will map out.

The entertaining WBO Intercontinental Junior Middleweight bout which preceded the main event and which was won by Liverpool’s Liam Smith was fought out in front of an arena that was three quarters full so I started to worry that swathes of empty seats would undermine the work put in by all involved. As it turned out there was no need to be concerned; the midtown pubs sent the last of the stragglers across to the Garden and by the time Smith headed back to his dressing room, the place was full and rocking and the stage was set.

Serrano was still beaming when she began her entrance. She couldn’t wait to get started. But she probably saw it coming that by the time she got to the ring, the wait for her opponent was set to be interminable.

Because the way that Katie Taylor slowed the seconds on our clocks seemed to suggest her own pulse had lowered to dangerous levels. Suddenly it was apparent, she was exactly where she wanted to be. She was safe, she didn’t need to speak, she didn’t need to hide her hair or change her name. She was here on her terms and she was about to change the game once again.

Now, of course as the old Tyson truism goes, everyone has a plan until… This would be the final time we would see her calm and maybe deep down she knew this too. Maybe we should have seen it coming that Serrano was a fired-up buzzsaw ready to leave it all out on the mat.

Taylor sang the chorus of the gospel hymn she chose to accompany her, Awake My Soul. She slowly rotated 360 and seemed to try to memorise every face in the building. The fever rose and rose and the ring wasn’t even close.

“That’s what was nice about the ringwalk tonight because a lot of times she’s been on the coattails of other shows,” Hearn said at the press conference during the early hours of Sunday morning.

“When she boxed Persoon here, she was on the Anthony Joshua card. Tonight they were all here for her. It was the first time I’ve seen her walk out and soak it up. She deserved that moment because it’s nice to give to others, it’s nice to pave the way for others but you should also be very proud of what you’ve achieved when you’ve achieved what Katie Taylor has.” Even the rounds Taylor won - I had it 6-4, if that matters today - Serrano had a say. Only during the seventh round did Taylor regain the composure of that incredibly composed entrance and dictate the terms of a cagey frame.

“Just walking out to the ring today, just looking at a packed stadium, It was unbelievable,” the champ concurred afterwards.

“It was an absolutely special, special moment. The best night in my career for sure. I wasn’t sure if anything could reach my Olympic gold medal moment; today was absolutely the best moment in my career.” 

A high ranking Madison Square Garden executive with a quarter of a century experience at the famed arena said afterwards the fight ranked top three in events he had witnessed there. 

Such was the intensity of the decibel levels in the third round that Taylor had to gesture a little desperately to her opponent and to the referee that the bell had rung. Serrano was oblivious to time and space, hunting down Taylor in every square foot available to them.

"I'm just looking forward to not getting punched in the face for a few weeks,” laughed Taylor afterwards when asked about how she planned to celebrate.

“I'm just going to take it easy with the family. They're all over here so, I'm going to relax with them for the day (Sunday). It was an amazing night for myself and for my family. We're just absolutely over the moon. The biggest night of my career."

She was the underdog and none of us saw it coming but she knew exactly what to expect; a brawl, a victory and history.