Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will earn their bread at Jake Paul and Mike Tyson's Circus Netflix

On Friday night, or early Saturday morning if you're in Ireland, Katie Taylor will face Amanda Serrano in what seems certain to be the most watched female boxing match in history.

Just under two and a half years ago, the Irish undisputed lightweight world champion beat the Puerto Rican in a thrilling fight that was the first women’s bout to headline Madison Square Garden.

That split-decision hair-raiser at the sport’s most prestigious venue in New York was watched by 1.5 million people on streaming service DAZN, a record only eclipsed by the two million who tuned in to Sky Sports’ all-female card headlined by Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall later that year.

This weekend's long-awaited Taylor and Serrano sequel will be streamed live on Netflix, at no extra cost to its 282 million global subscribers. Expect records to be shattered.

Taylor will reportedly earn over $6m for putting her belts (super-lightweight this time) on the line again, almost six times the purse she received in 2022. Serrano has claimed her payday will be even bigger.

It seems like another step forward in the battle for equal esteem for women’s sports.

And yet, Taylor-Serrano II will not be the main event in front of 60,000+ spectators at the Arlington, Texas stadium of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team.

That honour is reserved for the heavyweight clash of former world champion Mike Tyson and Serrano’s promoter Jake Paul, who will reportedly earn at least $60m between them.

That a fight between a 58-year-old convicted rapist and a YouTube star should take top billing over the rematch of arguably the top two female boxers in the world is depressing but then it isn’t the first boxing freak show to attract public interest.

In 2017, former amateur boxer and then UFC