Amanda Serrano: ‘I want to show women can fight. We can sell tickets’

Amanda Serrano is on top of the world – that’s how it feels, anyway, standing on the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building on a misty Tuesday afternoon. As the seven-division champion from Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighbourhood poses for photographs, the city unspools behind her, offering an evocative glimpse of Madison Square Garden. In the storied venue’s 140 years of hosting boxing, a women’s fight has never headlined a card – until Saturday night, when Serrano will climb through the ropes to challenge Ireland’s Katie Taylor for the undisputed lightweight championship.

The fight has been billed as the biggest in women’s boxing history – perhaps in recent boxing history, period. Serrano and Taylor are the world’s top two female boxers regardless of weight. The last time the pound-for-pound No 1 and No 2 squared off was more than a decade ago when Manny Pacquiao defeated Juan Manuel Márquez by split decision in 2008.

Such a long-awaited showdown marks an unparalleled height in Serrano’s already lofty career. “It means everything, you know, I worked so hard,” Serrano tells the Guardian. “And I couldn’t ask for a better partner than Katie Taylor – she’s well-deserving, she’s an Olympic gold medalist and undisputed champion. You have pound-for-pound No 1, No 2, going at it. I’m excited to see who’s the best.”

At 33, Serrano has achieved nearly everything a fighter could hope for. With a professional record of 42-1-1, the heavy-handed southpaw has captured nine major world titles across every weight from 115lbs to 140lbs. Only Pacquiao, an eight-division champion, held belts in more. Serrano’s 30 career knockouts is thought to be second in women’s boxing history to Christy Martin’s 32.

Yet Serrano has spent