April 30th is set to be a historic night not just for women’s boxing, but for boxing in general.
Under the beaming lights of the world’s most famous arena Madison Square Garden, undisputed women’s lightweight champion Katie Taylor will face seven division world champion Amanda Serrano exclusively live on DAZN.
Speaking to DAZN News in an exclusive interview, Taylor’s promoter Eddie Hearn was full of praise for Jake Paul who signed Serrano to his Most Valuable Promotions label and took some responsibility for starting Paul’s foray into the world of professional boxing.
“The great thing about him is that he’s not been tarnished yet with the bitterness of the sport,” Hearn said.
“He’s just thinking how we can make this fight as big as possible, rather than ‘don’t like that guy, I’m not going to push this hard’, at the moment he’s refreshing and great to work with as a promoter.
“I gave him his debut as a fighter, it’s my fault this whole thing.”
Love him or hate him, Paul has to be commended for his work within the sport. With a huge social media following, anything Paul does in boxing will be seen by a huge audience and possibly bring new fans to the sport as result. Hearn sees similarities between Paul’s time as a promoter and when he revived Matchroom’s boxing events, and believes Paul's involvement in Taylor vs. Serrano will benefit women’s boxing and bring through the next generation of women’s boxing stars.
“One of the reasons why we were so successful was because I was young, and I could attract the younger generation,” Hearn explained.
“It’s the same with what he’s doing, but he’s got a platform, much bigger than I ever had.
“People that aren’t in boxing, who don’t follow boxing, he can try to bring them in for that fight and that’s important for the next generation, to grow fight fans.
“Also, it’s massive for women’s boxing that the younger generation will be watching women’s boxing and saying, ‘this is great’.
“Young girls who might actually use the sport to benefit their lives.”