Katie Taylor enters the freedom stage of her trailblazing career

Katie Taylor brandishes her belts at the pre-fight press conference in New York. Picture: Gary Carr/Inpho

For someone who typically detests the promotional blitz that accompanies a blockbuster bout, there was a time when Katie Taylor would consider this sort of pre-fight press conference to be absolute hell. Not here. Not now.

This is an empowering week for the Irishwoman. She will walk out in a place and position that she has been before, but this time her label is whatever she wants it to be. The champion. The underdog. The B-side when it comes to the MC announcements on the night. It’s a birthday week. It’s a Madison Square Garden showpiece. It’s her face on Times Square billboards. It’s the biggest night of her professional career so far. It’s another landmark in a legacy few can rival.

And she has worn it all remarkably lightly. After a press conference that saw Taylor take noticeable pleasure in putting Serrano back in her box when it came to complaints about the previous two fights or the end result, she moved upstairs and made her way through four different media huddles.

New York has been a welcome break from the circus that accompanied the last instalment in Dallas. Mike Tyson and Jake Paul were the stars of that show and sold it all by themselves. Most Valuable Promotions, the company Paul founded with Nakisa Bidarian, are running the card once more with Netflix by their side. There is a marked bid to ensure a different kind of hype. The content creators that swarmed all over Texas aren’t around this time either. We all have our preferences, yet less navigating selfie sticks and TikTokers certainly hasn’t diminished our experience.

Everyone concerned seems to have learned from that extraordinary and at times dark night at AT&T Stadium, reflecting on what worked and what didn’t. Despite the streaming records, Netflix faced intense criticism after their servers crashed and their commentary was laughably one-sided. Actor Rosie Perez and commentator Mauro Ranallo lost the run of themselves at the time, although Perez did later apologise to Taylor for claiming the triumph would be an asterisk on her record.

Sean Grande, the voice of the Boston Celtics, is now on the ringside commentary team with Seniesa Estrada and Laila Ali, the daughter of bona fide legend Muhammad and a former champion boxer in her own right.

In an unusual move, MVP allowed media to attend the official weigh-in on the morning before the trilogy. Typically, only the ceremonial event is open to the public, with the commissioner’s observations kept behind closed doors. It was a front room seat to what is understandably a stressful moment for all the participants.

Except Taylor. She strolled in and sat in the lobby while the final touches were put on the Ventana ballroom in the Kimpton Eventi Hotel. Her team laughed heartily when she was asked to confirm her full name before stepping on the scales. A 135.8 pound mark was announced, her trainer Ross Enamait immediately passed over a bottle of Bodyarmor sports drink and she joked with journalists in the front row in anticipation of her post weigh-in meal. Pasta. Penne, to be specific.

Amanda Serrano during the official commission weigh-in, held at the Kimpton Eventi Hotel in New York. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Meanwhile, there were signs of strain in Serrano. She took note of her opponent’s fiery demeaner and recent shots back about the ‘whining’ from her side.

“I’m never surprised,” said Serrano.

“You just never know with this, we have our breaking points and I guess we were at our wits’ ends with it. And obviously she has her opinion, her team has their opinion. I have my opinion, my teams, the fans, the people who saw had their own opinion.” 

The MVP star did not emerge for the same media breakouts after the press conference. Other fighters on the all-women’s card came out to make weight after Taylor while Serrano stayed back stage. Despite her camps insistence that the contest for the 140-pound titles take place at a 136-pound limit, she seemingly needed some time to make the mark. In the end, she stood on stage and hit 136 exactly.

The familiar backing track still plays. Ever since their first meeting in Madison Square Garden, speculation and expectation of Taylor’s inevitable retirement has lingered. It has hung over her last four fights. Much of it stems from a good place. The music will stop. That is certain. Take care not to be caught flat-footed when it does. This is an exhilarating trade. It is a dark one too.

At the same time, she is coming off the back of what can be considered among her greatest ever performances. Few study the sport in the same way that her team do. Her burning passion for this pursuit is still undiminished.

“I just love those challenges,” she told us this week. “I love these kind of fights. This is what I was born for. When was younger I used to dream of nights like this. I wanted to be involved in big mega-fights. I wanted the chance to be involved in another historic night. I don't really need much motivation for that.” 

Somehow, the story continues to find another engrossing chapter. This is as close to bonus territory as prize fighting gets. The 39-year-old is already 2-0 in this rivalry. Her spot in the pantheon of the sport is safe. We knew this when we made the trip. For those reasons, and because of the feeling that Serrano is ‘due’ a close call, with the house seemingly on her side, Taylor’s underdog odds felt fair.

But as the week went on, as the memory of their first meeting in the same arena lingered, our mood has started to shift. That clash was the ultimate reminder that the thing Taylor truly relishes is to throw down. She seems content here, certain that she still can.