Taylor v Serrano delivers on the breathless hype to join boxing classics

What was billed as the biggest night in the history of women’s boxing somehow exceeded the breathless hype that preceded it. Whenever Katie Taylor was shown on the Jumbotron in the hours leading up to the main event on Saturday, the steady roar of the crowd jilted to ear-splitting volumes. Same for Amanda Serrano, only slightly louder. That crackling energy built throughout the evening, amid lusty singalongs of Wonderwall and Sweet Caroline and The Fields of Athenry, to the type of atmosphere not seen in the big room at Madison Square Garden since Félix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto.

And that was before the fight itself. And what a fight it was. High-intensity combat between two top operators over 10 white-knuckle rounds before a sold-out crowd divided by their allegiances but united in full-throated, well-lubricated enthusiasm.

“We were saying before that when you think of Madison Square Garden, you still talk about Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,” Taylor said. “Now people will be talking about myself and Amanda Serrano for years and years to come. This is a history-making fight and it definitely lived up to the expectations.”

Whether the unforgettable encounter was a case of catching lightning in a bottle or the dawn of a new normal for women’s boxing, no one can say. Not every fight will have the benefit of featuring the world’s two best fighters regardless of weight. But the Taylor-Serrano fight has laid down a new benchmark for what’s possible with sustained investment.

“We billed this as the biggest female fight of all time,” said Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn, who promotes Taylor. “And it became one of the biggest fights in boxing today. What we witnessed was one of the greatest fights in the history of Madison Square