Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano are set for Saturday, as is the rest of a packed Matchroom card.
Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano made weight in front of a lively audience in New York today, and Saturday night’s undisputed lightweight championship fight is set and ready to go.
Taylor (20-0, 6 KO), the defending champion, weighed in at 134.6 lbs, with Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KO) at 133.6, both under the 135 lb limit.
“And they say women can’t sell!” Serrano said. “Are they out of their minds? Two of the best pound-for-pound going at it, making history at the Garden. Boricuas and Irish, who can ask for any more? I can feel the love and support. You guys are the true winners come tomorrow night. You guys wanted this fight, you guys kept asking for this fight, so here you go!”
Serrano said she just to be “vintage Amanda Serrano” to win on Saturday night.
Jake Paul then couldn’t answer a simple question and instead did some lame trash talk toward the Irish fans.
“There’s definitely something different about this fight. It’s great to see so many fans here,” Taylor said. “Thank you so much to the Irish for coming over, I’m so grateful. I feel great. I’m ready to step in there, ready to hear those words, ‘And still world champion.’”
“Forget women’s boxing or men’s boxing, this is one of the greatest fights of all time between two of the greatest to ever lace them up,” Taylor’s promoter Eddie Hearn said. “From top to bottom on the card, you are going to get a night at Madison Square Garden you’re never going to forget. It’s been jovial and we respect Team Serrano, but you’re going to see why Katie Taylor is the best female fighter of all time.”
Jessie Vargas and Liam Smith are set for what has become something of a grudge match, with Smith (30-3-1, 17 KO) really annoying Vargas (29-3-2, 11 KO), to the point Vargas was really animated, far more than we’ve ever seen him before.
Vargas, who is making his junior middleweight debut, came in at 153 lbs, with Smith at 154, the limit for the fight.
“He said, ‘I’m going to fuck you up,’ and I can’t remember the last person he did,” Smith said calmly. “154 is my division and I’ll be the first to stop Jessie.”
“He’s been talking a lot of trash and I’m really tired of it,” Vargas said, and continued on in a fiery rant about how he’ll hurt Smith on Saturday, saying he’s found new power in training camp. “I’ve always been the quiet one, but when someone wants to disrespect you, you stand up for what you believe in.”
In another undisputed title fight, super middleweights Franchon Crews-Dezurn (7-1, 2 KO) and Elin Cederroos (8-0, 4 KO) came in at 166.8 and 167.8, respectively, both under the 168 lb limit. Crews-Dezurn is defending the WBC and WBO titles, and Cederroos the WBA and IBF belts.
Bad Left Hook will have full live coverage including round-by-round for Taylor vs Serrano on Saturday, April 30, starting at 4:30 pm ET for the preliminary bouts and 7:30 pm ET for the main card.
