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Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano III: Five classic trilogies ahead of New York showdown
Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will return to where their rivalry all began when they face each other at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
It was Taylor, 24-1 (6), who claimed a split decision victory in their first New York contest in April 2022, before the Irish icon got her hand raised again last November on the undercard of Jake Paul’s clash with Mike Tyson.
But the two bouts have been extremely close on the scorecards, with Serrano, 47-3-1 (31), feeling she did enough to win on both occasions.
The Puerto Rican will get another shot at revenge on Friday after falling agonisingly short twice before.
Taylor-Serrano is boxing’s latest classic trilogy, and they will be following in the footsteps of some legendary fighters.
Let’s take a look at five of the greatest trilogies to grace the sport.
Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder
This was a rivalry that few saw coming. When Tyson Fury returned to boxing in mid-2018 after an absence of almost three years, many expected him to chase a domestic showdown with Anthony Joshua.
Instead, he stepped up to face Deontay Wilder within six months of his comeback as he travelled over to Los Angeles to challenge for the WBC heavyweight title.
Fury controlled most of the contest but was knocked down twice, and his chances of regaining the heavyweight crown appeared to have crumbled when he went down heavily in the final round.
However, he rose to his feet to complete the round, and many ringside observers felt he had done enough to beat Wilder.
The judges disagreed as they scored the bout a draw, meaning a rematch was inevitable. Fourteen months later, Fury and Wilder met again, but this time the result was far more conclusive.
The giant Brit went on the front foot from the opening bell and dominated a bewildered Wilder who had no answers for Fury’s surprising tactics.
After suffering multiple knockdowns, Wilder was mercifully saved by his corner as they threw in the towel during the seventh round.
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A third fight seemed unlikely given the one-sided nature of their second bout, but after accusing Fury of cheating, Wilder then took him to a tribunal and the ‘Gypsy King’ was ordered to fight his rival once more.
In October 2021, Fury and Wilder went toe-to-toe again in a modern-day classic. The pair shared five knockdowns in total, with the fight swinging one way and then the other.
Finally, it was Fury who landed the knockout blow in the 11th round to settle his feud with Wilder once and for all.
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Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe
Let’s stay in the heavyweight division and travel back in time to the 1990s. Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe were widely regarded as the two best fighters in boxing’s blue-riband weight class at the time, and they went to war in November 1992.
Both men entered the ring undefeated, but it was Bowe who emerged victorious via unanimous decision.
A year later, Holyfield got his chance to exact revenge and he took it as he awarded a majority decision win. But the fight was better remembered for the infamous ‘Fan Man’ incident, where a spectator flew into the ring attached to a parachute.
The bizarre moment occurred during the seventh round and led to a delay of over 20 minutes.
With the score level at 1-1 between Holyfield and Bowe, a decider was necessary. It was scheduled for November 1995 and did not disappoint.
Another back and forth encounter was brought to an abrupt halt in the eighth round when Bowe sent Holyfield sprawling and the referee was forced to step in.
It was the first of only two knockout defeats for Holyfield in his career as Bowe earned the bragging rights over his fellow American.
Arturo Gatti vs Micky Ward
Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward were known for their crowd-pleasing styles, but few could have predicted the brutal battles that they produced in the early 2000s.
Neither man gave an inch in an epic slugfest in May 2002 that could have gone either way. In the ninth round legendary commentator Jim Lampley famously reminded the referee “you can stop it at any time” as Ward landed one body punch after another on Gatti.
But the fight went on, with Ward eventually earning himself a majority decision win.
Six months later, they did it all over again. This time it was Gatti who got his hand raised, much to the delight of his fans at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Gatti had a huge following in the New Jersey area so it made sense for his final fight with Ward to take place at the Boardwalk Hall once again.
The brave brawlers left it all in the ring, swinging away until the final bell, but it was Gatti who picked up his second straight win to end the rivalry.
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales
Fighters in lower weight divisions can struggle to get the recognition they deserve, but these two Mexican warriors simply could not be ignored.
In truth, the three fights between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales could have taken place inside a phone box.
They just would not stop throwing punches at each other, and did so with pleasure. Let’s just say, they weren’t particularly fond of one another.
The first fight could not have been much closer, with Morales winning a disputed split decision. They ran it back two years later and it was Barrera who got his redemption to set up a decider.
Once again, punches were flying in from all angles and one judge could not split the pair. But, fortunately for Barrera, the other two ringside officials scored the bout in his favour as he secured a majority decision victory.
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Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier
We may have saved the best until last as we head back to the heavyweight division.
Having spent over three years out of the ring after refusing to serve in the US army, Muhammad Ali was aiming to make up for lost time when he challenged Joe Frazier for his world title in 1971.
The clash was billed as ‘The Fight of the Century’ and both men delivered in the ring. Frazier got the better of most exchanges and rubber-stamped his victory in the final round as he knocked Ali down with a thunderous left hook. Ali got back to his feet to complete the fight, but Frazier was rightly declared the winner.
The bitter rivalry only grew over the years as Ali hurled insults at Frazier so it was no surprise when they went to battle again in 1974.
This time there was no title on the line – Frazier had been brutally stopped by George Foreman inside two rounds the previous year – and Ali picked up a revenge win via unanimous decision.
Ali would go on to dethrone Foreman nine months later, and the heavyweight belt was back up for grabs when he took on Frazier for the third and final time in the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ in 1975.
In arguably the most brutal heavyweight fight of all time, Ali and Frazier punched lumps out of each other for 14 rounds before the latter’s corner refused to send their man out for the final three minutes.
Ali would later reveal it was the closest he had ever been to death, while Frazier had to be helped back to his dressing room after giving absolutely everything in the ring that night.
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