A monumental all-female card is assembled at Madison Square Garden in New York this Friday night as Katie Taylor defends her unified world super lightweight title against old rival Amanda Serrano.
The two originally met at the same venue in April 2022, and Taylor came out a split decision winner in a very close contest.
Taylor (24-1, KO6) would then make a routine defence to round out the year, but would then lose her unbeaten record on home turf in May 2023, as Chantelle Cameron took a deserved majority decision win in Dublin in defence of her undisputed super lightweight crown.
Taylor would gain instant revenge, taking a majority nod of her own in the rematch to take all the marbles in November 2023, and that led to a drop back down to lightweight, where Puerto Rico’s Serrano (47-2-1, KO31) would await.
After losing to Taylor in New York, Serrano continued her dominance of the featherweight division, making four defences of her unified crown, and after moving to lightweight with a second-round stoppage of Stevie Morgan in July last year, she stepped up to lightweight to tackle WBC, IBF, WBO and IBO queen Taylor.
It was another razor-thin affair, and Taylor would prevail in Arlington, Texas by one point on all three cards.
Prediction: This one is likely to be fast and furious yet again, but Taylor seems to know what to do at the right times, and I lean towards her taking another close victory here.
Alycia Baumgardner vs Jennifer Miranda
The undercard sees an undisputed world title clash, as WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner (15-1, KO7) defends her gold against Spain’s Jennifer Miranda (12-0, KO1).
Baumgardner fought once in 2024, and that was against Delfine Persoon, with the fight curtailed after four rounds and declared a no-contest after Persoon was unable to continue after sustaining a nasty cut.
Miranda has fought nowhere near her opponent’s level, with the Madrid native boxing exclusively in her home country.
She comes off the back of a wide points win against the 9-1-3 Teresa Almengor.
Prediction: Baumgardner should be levels above Miranda, and may even be able to score a stoppage win in this one.
Savannah Marshall vs Shadasia Green
Savannah Marshall (13-1, KO10) returns to boxing after a stint in MMA, and the IBF super middleweight champion takes on WBO champion Shadasia Green (15-1, KO11).
Green was comfortably outscored by Franchon Crews-Dezurn in a bid for the vacant WBC title in 2023, but became world champion last time out, taking a split verdict against Melinda Watpool in Texas.
Marshall dropped a grudge match at middleweight against bitter rival Claressa Shields in 2022, and returned to defeat Crews-Dezurn by majority decision in July 2023 to take the undisputed super middleweight title.
That was five months prior to Crews-Dezurn defeating Green.
Prediction: Marshall may need rounds to shake the rust off, but I expect her to take the win in this one on the cards.
Remaning Undercard
Catford’s Ellie Scotney (10-0, KO0) will look to add further pieces of gold to her collection, and the IBF and WBO super bantamweight champion should be able to take the WBC title from the waist of Yamileth Mercado (24-3, KO5), likely on the scorecards.
Mercado has won six on the spin since losing on points to Amanda Serrano in 2021.
WBA bantamweight champion Cherneka Johnson (17-2, KO7) lost to Scotney in June 2023, but a pair of wins over Nina Hughes gave her the WBA title, and she now goes after Shuretta Metcalf (14-4-1, KO2), who holds the IBF title.
The vacant WBC and WBO straps are also up for grabs. Metcalf outpointed Miyo Yoshida in October last year to become world champion, but Johnson is a tough customer, and can win clearly on points.
Chantelle Cameron (20-1, KO8) will look to catapult herself back into the mix in company with the headliners, and she’ll need a statement win here.
She can defend her interim WBC super lightweight title with a stoppage of Jessica Camara (14-4-1, KO3).
In eight-rounders, Ramla Ali (9-2, KO2) returns after losing in a bid for the WBC title against the aforementioned Yamileth Mercado, and she should bank a points win against Lila Furtado (11-2, KO2) at super bantamweight, and middleweight prospect Tamm Thibeault (2-0, KO1) can do the same against Mary Casamassa (6-0, KO1).
