Katie Taylor has beaten Amanda Serrano by unanimous decision to retain her undisputed lightweight world titles at the AT&T Stadium.
All three judges scored the fight 95-94 in Taylor's favour, securing her second win over Serrano after 10 epic rounds on the Mike Tyson v Jake Paul undercard in Texas.
38-year-pld Taylor (now 24-1-0) had a point taken off for a headbutt in the eighth round after an accidental clash of heads earlier in the fight opened up a nasty cut above Serrano's eye.
"Thank God I won that fight," Katie told Netflix, who live streamed the fight, afterwards.
"Congratulations to Amanda. The triple is on. She's a hard puncher and a tough warrior. I don't care if the commentary team or the crowd disagree with the result. The only thing that matters is the judges.
"I didn't agree with the point deduction and I certainly wasn't fighting dirty. Sometimes it gets tough in there."
The announcement of the result was met with jeers inside the arena, and Serrano and her team criticised Taylor's headbutts in their post-fight interviews.
The stats show that the Puerto Rican did better Taylor's output, with Serrano landing 324 of her 734 punches (44%), while Taylor landed 217 of 529 punches (41%).
Fight report
Serrano, wearing a bulletproof vest, was escorted to the ring by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Taylor chose Hillsong Worship’s 'Awake My Soul' as her ringwalk song, as she did in her previous win over Serrano in 2022.
The Bray boxer was hurt by Serrano in the closing seconds of the first round, with the 36-year-old Puerto Rican (now 47-3-1) making a strong start to the fight. Taylor grew into the fight, improving in the second round and boxing well in the third. Serrano, who fight on the front foot, walked Katie down and unleashed some big shots to both head and body.
An accidental headbutt opened a deep gash above Serrano's eye in the fourth. Blood was streaming steadily from the cut by the end of the fifth, a round in which Taylor caught her challenger with some big shots. Serrano was landing a heavier percentage of punches by the halfway stage, but Taylor's work was the more accurate. The fight was paused in the sixth so Serrano's cut could be treated, with the doctor ruling that the 36-year-old was fit to continue.
Both fighters let their hands go at the start of the seventh, trading big punches and going toe to toe as they did in Madison Square Garden in that unforgettable first fight. There was controversy in the eighth, with the referee warning Taylor about headbutting before deducting the Irish fighter a point.
Serrano came out swinging in the ninth, putting Katie under intense pressure despite the blood leaking from her nasty cut. Taylor's corner advised her that she needed to win the tenth round, and the final two minutes of action duly saw the two weary warriors trade blow after blow in a round that was difficult to watch at times.
Taylor pinned Serrano into the corner of the ring in the closing seconds, landing desperate flurries upon her opponent. Once again, two of the very best in the business were almost impossible to separate over 10 thrilling rounds.
The judges' decision was met with boos and objections from both the crowd and the commentators, but Taylor won't care.
Serrano's corner spoke about a third fight under MMA rules, which seems unlikely, while Taylor voiced her eagerness to complete the enthralling trilogy.
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