Taylor and Serrano to headline again at Madison Square Garden. This time, all the fighters are women

NEW YORK (AP) — When Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano fought three years ago at Madison Square Garden, it did more than open a thrilling rivalry between two of boxing's best.

It opened doors for women's boxers that neither could have imagined were ever available.

A professional boxing career wasn't even a consideration for girls when Taylor was growing up in Ireland, let alone one that would lead to one of the most famous venues in sports as the main event — a spot women's boxers had never occupied.

When Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) and Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs) return to Madison Square Garden on July 11 for their third fight, they will again serve as the main event. And this time, women's matches will make up the entire card.

“Like I said the first time around, it was never a dream for me to fight at the Garden because it was never there. Like, I never knew that women could headline the Garden,” Serrano said. "So the first time, it was like a dream I never knew I had.

“But now, for these girls, I’m an inspiration. Me and Katie are an inspiration for fighting and headlining a card at the Garden. Now to be able to headline and have an all-girl card is truly, truly amazing.”

Taylor won the first fight by split decision before a sold-out crowd of 19,187 that was split between her Irish and Serrano's Puerto Rican fans. She won a unanimous decision in the rematch last year, getting the nod by one point on all three judges' cards, as the co-main event to Jake Paul's victory over Mike Tyson at the Dallas Cowboys' stadium.

The trilogy bout, for Taylor's undisputed 140-pound titles, seems certain to be another slugfest. Yet both insist the action on the card that will stream on Netflix starts well before the final fight.

“From start to finish it’s going to be quality after quality after quality,” Taylor said. “This isn’t just a gimmick. This is going to be simply a great night for boxing, and I’m so proud of that.”

They will be preceded in the ring by Alycia Baumgardner defending her super featherweight titles against Spain’s Jennifer Miranda. The card also includes title bouts at super bantamweight between England’s Ellie Scotney and Mexico’s Yamileth “Yeimi” Mercado, and at bantamweight between Dina Thorslund of Denmark and Shurretta Metcalf.

Baumgardner previously had a match in the smaller Hulu Theater inside Madison Square Garden, where the opening press conference for the event was held Wednesday. But Taylor-Serrano I proved that women could fill the big room.

“I’m happy to see women’s sports grow,” Baumgardner said. “I’m happy to see the sport that I love, boxing, grow, and Amanda and Katie have proven more than once why women belong and why we will continue to break barriers and continue building the sport of boxing.”

In all, Most Valuable Promotions said the card will feature six of the top 15 women on the women's pound-for-pound list on Boxrec.com.

“Honestly, we don’t know who is going to get the fight of the night,” Serrano said.

It's hard to imagine it won't be Serrano and Taylor, based on their two all-action bouts already.

Both are boxing trail blazers nearing the end of their careers. The 38-year-old Taylor, who would wear head gear into the gym so she could appear to be a boy because girls weren't allowed to box, helped lead the push to make women's boxing an Olympic sport and won the gold medal the first time it was in London in 2012.

When she goes to the gym now, it's filled with female fighters.

“That’s the proudest legacy I could leave behind,” Taylor said. “Just to inspire the next generation.”

Serrano, 36, a champion in a women's-record seven weight classes who remains the featherweight champion, has already begun what will be her transition to a post-fighting career. MVP's first signee later inked a lifetime contract with the promotional company founded by Paul and Nakisa Bidarian to become its chairwoman of boxing initiatives and will be responsible for identifying, signing and marketing the roster of women's athletes.

But she can't stop fighting yet. Not when all the massive paydays that eluded her for most of her career have started rolling in lately.

And not when there's still a chance to finally notch a victory over Taylor.

“It means a lot more this time being an all-woman card,” Serrano said. "Having the opportunity to fight Katie Taylor once again is amazing. The payday is truly amazing, but to share this card with all these incredible women is the highlight of the night, I think.

“Listen, the opportunity presented itself and I think here is just a great ending to the story — especially my story, when I finally win.”

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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing