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Taylor vs Serrano at MSG is a main event for women’s boxing

(AP) — Back when Katie night to prove that we’re de- the eyeballs come. When the
Taylor had to pretend she serving of this opportunity, of eyeballs come, people are
was a boy so she could box, this spotlight, just everything entertained and amazed by
or even not long ago when all together,” Serrano said. what these athletes do. This
Amanda Serrano was fight- is long overdue.”
ing for thousands of dollars Promoter Eddie Hearn sees
with a resume that in men’s it as a culmination of Taylor’s Trailblazing women’s athletes
boxing would earn her many quest to never stop trying to such as tennis Hall of Famer
millions, it was hard to imag- do more than what seemed Billie Jean King and boxers
ine where they are now. possible for her. She would Laila Ali and Christy Martin
wear headgear into and out have gotten in on the promo-
They meet Saturday night of the gym to conceal her ap- tion. Ali’s father fought the
in what has been called the pearance and not use her first most famous boxing match
most significant women’s name when she began fight- at Madison Square Garden,
boxing match ever, the first ing, because girls weren’t with Joe Frazier beating Mu-
to headline Madison Square allowed to in Ireland. He hammad Ali in their first
Garden. At stake are the un- credits her with pushing the fight in 1971.
beaten Taylor’s four light- International Olympic Com-
weight titles, but this bout mittee to make women’s Now it’s Taylor and Serrano
goes beyond just the belts. boxing a medal sport and for who will write boxing history
always seeking the biggest in the arena.
It’s grown even bigger than events once she turned pro. and the red, white and blue Markowski, the executive
what organizers hoped, with of Puerto Rico. Some 200 vice president of DAZN, “No matter what happens
a sold-out crowd possible, “When Katie came into my members of the media are which will stream the card. Saturday night, I think the
the Empire State Building office six years ago, we had expected a couple of blocks “People are starting to realize real winners are the fans and
lighting up in the colors of a dream and we always said, away that night inside MSG. that women, when they’re women in general and the
the fighters’ countries and ‘One day you’ll headline at given the platform, the mar- sport of women’s boxing, be-
unprecedented media atten- Madison Square Garden and “This is reflective of a broad- keting, the PR polish that cause it’s only going to grow
tion for women’s boxing. make a million dollars,’ and er trend in sport,” said Joseph their male counterparts get, from now on,” Serrano said.
Those involved say it proves I’m thinking probably not,
that if the best fight the best, but we’ll just keep saying it,”
with the proper promotional Hearn said. “And here we
push, it doesn’t matter what are.”
gender they are.
Serrano, despite her deco-
“Women’s boxing wasn’t rated career, was earning
even a sanctioned sport in $5,000 or $10,000 purses not
Ireland,” Taylor said. “Now long ago, according to pro-
here we are many years later moter Jake Paul. But once
headlining Madison Square she hooked up with Paul, the
Garden, the most iconic YouTube star-turned boxer
venue in boxing, and making and promoter, and fighting
history as the biggest fight in on his cards, she went to an-
female boxing history. This is other tax bracket as easily as
just incredible.” she bounces between weight
classes.
Taylor (20-0, 6 KOs) became
the undisputed champion “To think that we are here a
with a victory at the Gar- year later is massive,” Paul
den in 2019, while Serrano said, adding that the event’s
(42-1-1 30 KOs), a cham- hype “feels like a unification
pion in seven weight classes of the heavyweight division.”
who moves up two divisions
for this fight, has fought in Talks fell through for a match
the smaller Hulu Theater at a couple of years ago, when
MSG, but never in the main they would have fought with
arena. no fans because of the coro-
navirus pandemic. Serrano
Organizers at first considered — whose sister, Cindy, was
the Hulu Theater for this beat by Taylor in 2018 — fig-
fight, but after deciding it was ured there was too much de-
big enough for the big room, mand for the matchup to not
planned on configuring the be put back together.
venue for around 10,000
seats. They had to make more “I was pretty confident the
available when those were all fight was going to happen,
purchased. About 15,000 al- but not at this magnitude,”
ready have been sold, with a she said.
significant number of Irish
fans coming to support the Taylor and Serrano are fea-
2012 Olympic gold medalist. tured on a billboard in Times
Square and atop taxis in New
There will be plenty more York. They appeared together
for Serrano, a Puerto Rican earlier this week on NBC’s
who lives in Brooklyn and is “Today” show and on the ob-
a slight favorite, according to servation deck of the Empire
Fanduel Sportsbook. State Building, which on Sat-
urday will be lit in a mixture
“I can’t wait until Saturday of Ireland’s green and orange,