Oddsmakers Picking Katie Taylor to Repeat Over Amanda Serrano

Katie Taylor has opened as the slight betting favorite to beat Amanda Serrano in a rematch of their May 2022 Fight of the Year showdown at Madison Square Garden.

According to the top boxing sportsbooks, Taylor is the -166 chalk to repeat over Serrano who hit the opening betting boards at+130 odds. The current odds are almost identical to the opening betting lines when the pair met last year. 

The Irish female boxing start opened at -163 oddslast year with Serrano coming back at +130 odds. With Serrano backed up by the Jake Paul money machine, the odds flipped after the weigh-ins with Serrano closing at -160 at MyBookie.ag and Taylor entering the fight as the +135 bottom dog.

The bout was very competitive too, with the two fighters landing almost the same number of punches ( difference of four or fewer punches ) in seven out of the 10 rounds of the fight. The judges awarded Taylor with a split decision win, but with another set of scorers, the decision could have gone the other way, without controversy.

Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano Official Scorecard

The fight was scored by judges Guido Cavalleri, Glenn Feldman, and Benoit Roussel. Cavalleri awarded Taylor Rounds 1, 2, 4, and 7-10 via scores of 10-9 while awarding Serrano a 10-8 in Round 5. Feldman scored Rounds 1-3 and 7-10 for Taylor via scores of 10-9 and did not award any 10-8 rounds. Roussel scored Rounds 1 and 3-7 for Serrano but did not award her any 10-8 rounds.

At the end of the bout, Feldman scored the bout 97-93 for Taylor while Cavalleri had it 96-93 for the Irish boxing start. Meanwhile, Roussel had the dissenting scorecard at 96-94 for Serrano, giving Taylor a split decision victory to retain her world titles.

Looking at the punch stats, however, it was Serrano who outlanded Taylor 173-147 in total punches landed in the 10-round bout. The difference, however, could be traced to Round 5, when Serrano dominated Taylor 44-14 in punches landed. Taylor outlanded Serrano in five rounds while Serrano connected on more punches in four out of the 10 rounds both fighters scored 6 total punches each in Round 7.

Regardless of how you scored the bout, it was THAT close and it was no surprise that it won the Fight of the Year honor at Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, and ESPN among others. Immediately after the bout, both parties were already talking about a rematch but both fighters went in separate directions in their next bouts.

Serrano Back at the Garden

Five months after the loss, Serrano returned to the ring to beat Sarah Mafoud and add the IBF and inaugural Ring female featherweight title to her WBC, WBO, and IBO featherweight belts with a unanimous decision win over Sarah Mahfoud. Meanwhile, Taylor retained the undisputed female world lightweight title by defeating Karen Carbajal last October 29, 2022.

Next month, Serrano will be back at the Garden to face WBA female featherweight champion Erika Cruz in a title unification bout. Serrano has opened as the -270 favorite to become the undisputed female featherweight champion with Cruz coming back as the +200 bottom dog to do the same. If the oddsmakers are correct, Serrano will become the first Puerto Rican boxer, male or female, to become an undisputed world champion in boxing.

If Serrano beats Cruz, she too will most likely earn a second crack at Taylor in what will be a showdown between undisputed champions. The latter has talked about wanting her next fight to be at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland which has a capacity of 82,000.

There’s no question that a fighter as famous as Katie Taylor can fill a venue that big but imagine what the atmosphere would be if Amanda Serrano wins on February 4th and faces Taylor in a highly-anticipated rematch at Croke Park.