“…and still..!”
Those two words, delivered with great enthusiasm and
consequential gravitas by ring announcer David Diamante following a
deliberately and appropriately dramatic pause before which he had read the
previous two split verdicts as well as the deciding tally of 96-93, were all
anybody needed to hear. Which was a good thing, because the rest of Diamante’s
sentence was immediately drowned out by an audible tidal wave of passion and
emotion the likes of which Madison Square Garden has rarely, if ever,
experienced before the night of April 30.
Amanda Serrano, with the Puerto Rican flag draped across
her shoulders, bit down on her lower lip and threw her head back in
understandable disappointment. Lifted into the air by her trainer Ross
Enamait, a jubilant Katie Taylor pumped her fist and pounded her chest.
If you were perhaps expecting Serrano to storm out of the
ring in disgust without offering congratulations to Katie, or else snatch the
microphone away from Taylor to cry “robbery,” then you don’t know Amanda very
well at all. She epitomizes class, grace, and humility. So too does Katie, for
that matter. A cross word was never spoken between the two before or after the
fight. That’s simply not the way they’re wired.
As it should have been, Katie and Amanda embraced at
center ring, both battered warriors posing for the cameras with their arms
around one another. This was no phony post-fight photo-op with forced smiles,
but a genuine display of mutual respect and admiration. After all, before
sharing that hug, Serrano and Taylor, as million-dollar-making co-headliners,
shared the Madison Square Garden ring for ten electrifying rounds on boxing’s
biggest stage before a raucous sold-out crowd with so very much on the line.
The stakes could not possibly have been any higher. The
undisputed lightweight championship of the world. Pound for pound supremacy.
The public perception of the legitimacy of women’s boxing. And their rightful
place in history.
Though the outcome had to determine a lone victor and, on
the unfortunate flipside, a single vanquished gladiator, there was absolutely
no loser that night. In the sense that Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano elevated
women’s boxing through the glass ceiling and into the stratosphere by their
momentous performance, everyone walked away a winner. But, how did we get here
in the first place?
As for me personally, I had the privilege to be present
at the Ford Amphitheater on August 21, 2016 to witness the grudge match between
Heather Hardy and Shelly Vincent. Once bitter rivals and now good friends
(boxing can be a beautiful thing that way), they hit each other that afternoon
with everything but the wooden planks on the Coney Island boardwalk before a
partisan assembly of rowdy fight fans. Because of their New York and Rhode
Island-based contingencies, this slug fest might have been of merely regional
interest had it not been nationally televised on NBC Sports Net, albeit in a
competitive timeslot opposite the closing day of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
2005 was the last time we saw the possibility of a legitimate
super-fight that put women’s boxing in the mainstream conversation when Christy
Martin and Lucia Rijker were contractually obligated at long last to settle
their differences at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Just a week and a half away
from the ‘Million Dollar Ladies’ clash, Rijker ruptured her Achilles tendon during
a sparring session. The bout was postponed, never rescheduled, and Lucia
retired while Christy would drop a lopsided decision to Holly Holm, winning
only three of her final eight fights in an ultimately elusive quest for career
victory number fifty.
There have been no shortage of epic contests in the
meantime, of course. Go back and watch Layla McCarter and Belinda Laracuente
throw leather over ten 3-minute rounds in 2006 and tell me women can’t fight.
Or, how about Melissa Hernandez going toe to toe with Chevelle Hallback in an
instant classic that stole the show right out from under headliner Holly Holm? Speaking
of Holly, her pair of 2008 scraps opposite Mary Jo Sanders are more than worthy
of your time. And that’s not even chipping enough off the proverbial tip of the
iceberg to keep you drink cold.
As far as casting Taylor and Serrano as potential rivals
is concerned, the road to Madison Square Garden took three and a half years to
traverse. As the scheme was originally hatched, this matchup was supposed to
have headlined MSG’s Hulu Theatre on International Women’s Day 2020, capping
off a three-fight deal that Amanda had inked with DAZN in partnership with
Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing seventeen months earlier, right around the time
Katie beat her big sister Cindy in Boston.
When those plans fell through, Hearn arranged for Taylor
vs. Serrano to be the chief support bout to the May 2 interim WBC heavyweight
title fight between Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin in Manchester,
England. And then came Covid.
Eddie Hearn hosted the Matchroom Fight Camp in the backyard of his Brentwood estate that summer and targeted August 15 then ultimately the 22nd as the new date for the women’s mega-bout. Negotiations, like the world itself at that time, went all to hell and Taylor faced Delfine Persoon in a rematch instead.
The official announcement came at the end of January that Taylor vs. Serrano was a done deal for April 30. Not only that, they would be top-billed at Madison Square Garden with each woman guaranteed a seven-figure payday. This news aroused great excitement, but also left several question marks hanging in the air.
Could a boxing card headlined by women in the big room at
Madison Square Garden sell a respectable amount of seats? Would the fight itself
live up to the hype? Even if it did, would anybody care? The answers to all of
those concerns and more would be a resounding and emphatic “yes!”
Just for starters, the demand for fight tickets reached a
fever pitch which produced the second-highest grossing pre-sale in the Garden’s
history. Attendance is said to have reached full capacity at 19,187 by the time
the pair of main event fighters made their entrances, and the Garden’s guest
list reads like a who’s who of women’s boxing.
Among the current world champions, title contenders, and rising
prospects seated at ringside were Seniesa ‘Superbad’ Estrada, Mikaela Mayer,
Alycia Baumgardner, Terri Harper, Marlen Esparza, Ramla Ali, Virginia Fuchs, Miriam
Gutierrez (who had opposed both Katie and Amanda), Christina Cruz, and Serrano’s
protégé Nicole Ocasio. Claressa Shields and Jessica McCaskill joined the DAZN
broadcast team to provide color commentary for what would be a record-setting
1.5 million viewers.
McCaskill’s predecessor Cecilia Braekhus, former WBC/WBA
world featherweight champion Jelena Mrdjenovich, and former WBC
super-welterweight titleholder Mikaela Lauren were also spotted among the faces
in the crowd throughout the world’s most famous arena. Laila Ali ventured to
Manhattan to show her support, as did Laila’s one-time foe Christy Martin, who
was accompanied by her wife Lisa Holewyne, herself a prizefighter from the
recent past (the two actually squared off against one another in 2001).
In the discussions leading up to the Taylor/Serrano
super-fight pertaining to its historic context, many accolades were heaped upon
Martin and Ali—and deservedly so. But the widespread narrative unfortunately seemed
to reach back no further, as if it had been Christy and Laila alone who were somehow
solely responsible for smashing down the doors that provided the entry way for
this groundbreaking event. The point of origin goes back much, much further
than that.
Let’s start with Kathy Collins and Andrea DeShong, the
first women to compete in a professional boxing match at the Garden in 1996, who
are two of the unsung giants on whose shoulders Taylor and Serrano proudly
stood. One year prior, Collins fought Laurie Bishoff at the Westbury Music Fair
on Long Island in what was not only the pro debut for each of them, but the
first officially sanctioned women’s bout in New York State, approved by
then-Commissioner Randy Gordon. On July 16, 1979, Gladys ‘Bam’ Smith won a
six-round decision over Toni ‘Leatherneck’ Tucker at Harlem’s 369th
Regiment Armory, although neither fighter was licensed by the NYSAC.
Which brings us to Lady Tyger Trimiar, who I had the
indescribable pleasure of being seated beside in a VIP section of Madison
Square Garden last Saturday. From time to time, especially as the hour drew
near for the evening’s featured attraction and the rabid Irish fans competed with
their Puerto Rican counterparts by bellowing voluminous chants in support of
their chosen one, she would slowly look across the wide expanse of the arena
from one side to the other, taking in the panorama of gleeful insanity
enveloping her and loving every minute of it.
“I always knew women could draw if only given a chance,” she would say to me. Her smile was genuine and infectious, her pride evident and earned the hard way. Having applied for and been denied a boxing license in 1974, Lady Tyger pursued her dream nevertheless, competing in exhibitions or out of state matches while openly declaring her intention to forcibly remove barricaded doors from their hinges to allow women to walk in behind her, and advocating for the right for female fighters to be allowed to compete in the Olympics. During her professional boxing career and beyond, she would never get to see the inside of Madison Square Garden unless she bought a ticket to watch others fight there.
After lengthy legal battles with the New York State Athletic Commission, Trimiar, along with Cathy Davis and Jackie Tonawanda, would finally attain her license on September 19, 1978. Six months later—though in San Antonio, Texas and not her home state of New York—Lady Tyger would outpoint Sue ‘KO’ Carlson to win the world championship in the lightweight division, the same weight class in which Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano were vying for the undisputed title.
To me, this attached even more poetic significance to the
fact that Lady Tyger got to be there in person to witness her lifetime of
struggles and accomplishments—which include a month-long hunger strike in 1987
to call attention to the plight of female boxers—come full circle at a sold-out
Madison Square Garden where two women were fighting in the main event for the
very first time.
Enter Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor. Literally. Their
ring walks were given the appropriate pomp and circumstance befitting the occasion,
preceded by performances of the Puerto Rican, Irish, and American national anthems.
Both fighters seemed to sense the magnitude of what they were walking into.
Serrano smiled and waved to the masses as she made her way toward her date with
destiny, and even Taylor, known for having one of the more impenetrable poker
faces in all of boxing, couldn’t resist the opportunity to gaze appreciatively
from ringside all the way up to the rafters, soaking up every ounce of this
unprecedented atmosphere.
You couldn’t help but get goosebumps. Even referee
Michael Griffin later confessed to being swept up in the splendor before the
first bell rung and the realization sunk in that there was work to do as well
as history to make. As I had done with Hardy vs. Vincent six years ago, I opted
not to take notes or keep score so that I could be present in the moment and
simply allow myself to experience the intensity pulsating throughout the
building like some sort of entity taking on a life of its own and assuming
control over every fiber of my being. One from many.
Suffice it to say that the early rounds were incredibly
close, as neither fighter was fully able to dictate the pace or impose her will.
Katie used her exemplary hand speed, feints, and lateral movement to get off
flurries of punches while simultaneously evading Amanda’s considerable
firepower. This is not to say that Serrano did not enjoy her share of success,
but it was fleeting for the time being. This made it deceptively tough to tell
in real time who was getting the better of the other, and would be reflected in
the disparity of the scoring on all three judges’ cards.
This would all change in the fifth round when the Puerto
Rican southpaw did what she does best which is cut off the ring, close the
distance behind her jab, bang to the body, and land a multitude of vicious
hooks with both hands. Taylor had never been in danger like this before, but
then again she had never been in the ring with a beast of this caliber before.
Fans leapt to their feet, whether anticipating or fearing
the inevitable knockout blow which never came. Regardless, a thunderous ovation
accompanied both women back to their respective corners when the bell sounded.
That Katie withstood Serrano’s onslaught and finished the round on her feet can
only be a testament to her resilience and inner fortitude.
A battle-damaged Taylor, looking much the worse for wear
with blood streaming from her broken nose and lacerations to her eyebrow and
scalp, returned to action and hung on for dear life when necessary to weather
the storm and regroup over the next two rounds while Serrano applied constant pressure
in the hope of closing the show in grand, decisive style.
Not only did Katie survive a very close call, but rallied
when it mattered most to shift the momentum back in her direction over the
final three rounds. A seven division world champion, Amanda might have jumped up
two classes to take this fight but carried the extra pounds well, exhibiting
no signs of labored breathing even in the late going. 135 is not exactly unfamiliar territory to Serrano, and she had just come off a lightweight tuneup against Miriam Gutierrez. However, she appeared to ease
off the accelerator just as Taylor was being rejuvenated by a second wind,
allowing the undefeated, undisputed lightweight titleholder to finish strong, lump up Serrano in the final frame, and take her belts and unbeaten record home with her.
Lest we forget, and not hastily throw them in as an
afterthought, unified super-middleweight champions Franchon Crews-Dezurn (WBC/WBO)
and Elin Cederroos (WBA/IBF) also clashed earlier that evening in a
winner-take-all showdown. Not having lost since her pro debut when she was
outpointed by her amateur teammate and personal friend Claressa Shields (in
what was the two-time Olympic gold medalist’s first pro fight as well),
Franchon bludgeoned the previously undefeated Swedish belt holder into a bloody
mess over ten gory rounds to consolidate all of the 168-pound straps.
In the second bout of the undercard, former Olympian Skye
Nicolson improved her pro record to a perfect 3-0 by dropping and outpointing Shanecqua
Paisley Davis to pick up the unanimous six-round decision. Competing for the
third time in just eight weeks, Skye became the first Australian female boxer
to fight at Madison Square Garden. A lot of history was made that night.
As we celebrate last Saturday’s landmark achievements,
let us also take the time to acknowledge the significant contributions of the
countless pioneers who have been bearing the flag for female prizefighting for
centuries.
Yes, you read that correctly. Centuries. As in the
bareknuckle era, as far back as the early 1700s when the ‘European Championess’
Elizabeth Wilkinson reigned supreme. The mantle was carried into the 19th
Century by the likes of Hattie Stewart, Hattie Leslie, and Alice Leary who then
passed the torch to Polly Burns, Barbara Buttrick, Pat Emerick, JoAnn Hagen, and
Phyllis Kugler who shone as brightly as they were permitted to throughout the
early-to-mid 1900s.
With the path to forward progress illuminated by their
forebears, fresh trails were blazed in the 1970s and 80s by Lady Tyger Trimiar,
Sue Fox, Shirley ‘Zebra Girl’ Tucker, Theresa Kibby, Caroline Svendsen, Squeaky
Bayardo, Karen Bennett, Gwen Gemini, Diane Syverson, Baby Bear James, Joanne
Metallo, Toni Lear Rodriguez, Graciela Casillas, Cora and Dora Webber, Britt
Van Buskirk, and many others besides.
They all made possible the achievements of more modern
day warriors such as Christy Martin, Kathy Collins, Andrea DeShong, Deirdre
Gogarty, Lucia Rijker, Jane Couch, Sumya Anani, Laila Ali, Ann Wolfe, Fredia
Gibbs, Holly Holm, Mary Jo Sanders, Regina Halmich, Anne Sophie Mathis, Eva
Jones Young, Chevelle Hallback, Belinda Laracuente, Melissa Hernandez, Layla
McCarter, Tracy Bird, Alicia Ashley, Heather Hardy, Shelly Vincent, and, with
my most humble apologies, simply too many more to mention here. But, hopefully
you get the idea.
None of us stand alone. To borrow from the African
proverb, “it takes a village,” and the present women’s boxing community is a
tightly-knit yet inclusive and ever-expanding one that is born out of a long,
illustrious lineage.
The two brightest stars in New York City this past Saturday
were not in the nighttime sky, but in the boxing ring. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano
unquestionably made their many generations of peers beam with pride by blowing
the roof off Madison Square Garden as if to show women from across the globe and
all walks of life that the sky is the limit as long as you have the audacity to
reach for it.
“Question what you want, but never question my heart,”
Amanda wrote in an Instagram post four days after the fight. “The person I fear
doesn’t exist. Get it right.”
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