Natasha Jonas expects Katie Taylor to defeat Amanda Serrano for the third time on Friday – as long as she can resist Serrano’s attempts to “drag her into a fight”.
Ireland’s Taylor and Serrano, of Puerto Rico, fight for the third time on Friday evening, for Taylor’s undisputed lightweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The 39-year-old Taylor first defeated her in the same venue in 2022, and also won their rematch in Arlington, Texas in November 2024, but following two entertaining-and-competitive contests they will regardless fight for a third time.
Jonas, similarly, was competitive when she narrowly lost to Taylor in May 2021, and watched both of her former opponent’s later fights with the 36-year-old Serrano, perhaps partly in the hope of securing a rematch.
She has been open about the reality that at 41 her career may be over but that another date with Taylor would tempt her to fight on. She also believes that Friday could involve Taylor fighting for the final time.
“You’d have to say Katie [is the favorite] – she won twice before,” Jonas told BoxingScene. “If Serrano had won any fight, it was the first one. The second one, as soon as Serrano got that cut, it changed her game plan, and I think she thought she was going to get stopped.
“As you would, you have to adapt to the situation, so she did. But I don’t think the panic, and the game plan she adapted to, worked. I remember thinking, ‘Katie’s won this’, and it was quite clear. But when it comes to them two, and any elite fighters, when two elite fighters fight each other, and when the styles gel the way that Katie’s and Serrano’s does, it’s a bit like [Dmitry] Bivol-[Artur] Beterbiev, where they could box 10 times and it could be five-all.
“Her chin [is one of her strengths]. That was one of the first times – in that first fight – that we’ve seen it questioned as much as it was. The reason I believe that she will never do a three-minute round, as much as Serrano’s trying to force it and wants it, is because Katie has perfected two minutes. She’s done it for the last 20-plus years; her boxing IQ over a two-minute round is phenomenal. Her experience; her speed as well [are further strengths], even though Serrano is used to a lighter, faster [opponent], her speed still plays a factor.
“[But] one of the things with Katie is she loves a fight, and she can box, and you can drag her into a fight. I don’t think a fight with Serrano is the best option to take.”
Asked if Taylor was the best she fought, Jonas responded: “Every defeat, there’s something good about them. Experience and ring craft, she is [the best] – she knows what she’s doing.
“[Serrano] has to drag her into her fight; wear her down. One of the things about Katie, the reason I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to be in a fight, is because against [Belgium’s Delfine] Persoon, Chantelle [Cameron] twice, and Serrano… Chantelle, I’ve never seen [Taylor] in worse shape in the second or third round, because Chantelle took her to a war from round one. She just put it on her, and by round three, four, Katie was absolutely finished, and I felt like in the first Serrano fight her work rate was just so high that Katie didn’t get a minute. That would be Serrano’s best asset – her work rate; her engine. Even though she is a lighter person naturally, she can bang.”
Victory over Serrano would again present Taylor with fitting circumstances with which to retire. Her former opponent Chantelle Cameron – who she beat and lost to in 2023 – fights Canada’s Jessica Camara on the undercard, and in the event of victory perhaps the Englishwoman would deserve a decisive third fight with Taylor, even if Jonas believes Friday’s could prove Taylor’s last.
“I think MVP are hoping for the Serrano win, and if that’s the case maybe Katie sails off into the sunset with all the accolades that she’s got,” she said. “There’s still fights out there for her if she wants them, me being one; Chantelle Cameron being another; I suppose Mikaela Mayer. There is still big fights out there, and big names out there, if she wants them. She would motivate me to get back in the ring; she needs that motivation as well.”
