Katie Taylor: ‘If you’re a boxing person it really matters Mike Tyson does well against Jake Paul’

WWhen Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano locked horns during the final round of their first fight at Madison Square Garden on a feverish night in April 2022, I couldn’t help it. Next to a line of reporters ringside, I stood up to watch the final minute of a riveting match. Suddenly unaware of the onslaught of our pressing deadlines and the etiquette of staying above such raw human emotions, we were swept up by the courage and determination of both women in one of the Garden’s greatest battles ever seen.

“It’s only afterwards, when you look back and hear people’s reactions, that you think, ‘Gosh, that was a huge moment for women in boxing,’” Taylor says now. “You hear stories about young girls who are inspired by that night and how people call it historic. Then you just say, ‘Wow, that was a great night.’

“I think my favorite moment was right before the decision was announced and the two of us were walking around the ring with our arms around each other’s shoulders, just taking the applause from the crowd. The respect we had for each other and what we had just done for the sport definitely made us very proud. So it’s special to get the opportunity to fight her again.”

It seems bizarre that their long-awaited rematch must now take place on Friday evening as the main support for a circus stunt in Arlington, Texas, in which a 58-year-old Mike Tyson fights Jake Paul, the 27-year-old YouTube star. influencer trying to become a boxer. Tyson last fought professionally more than nineteen years ago, when he was beaten and stopped by Kevin McBride, an Irish journeyman. Since then his lifestyle has been typically idiosyncratic, marked by persistent drinking and drug problems.

The Tyson-Paul scandal would be laughable if there wasn’t a serious risk involved. Tyson was once the most ruthless fighter in the world, but he is now a ruined old shadow of a feared world heavyweight champion. Paul has worked methodically to improve his rudimentary knowledge of boxing and the age difference between him and Tyson stands at 31 years. He’s also fit and packs a decent punch. But the idea that he would have to share a ring with the most famous boxer the world has seen since Muhammad Ali is a shame.

In stark contrast, the first fight between Taylor and Serrano captured the best of boxing – and the rematch is full of intrigue and real meaning. Taylor lost her long undefeated record in May 2023, when she moved up in weight and Chantelle Cameron won a majority decision against her in Dublin. It was then suggested that Taylor, now 38, would retire after her long and glorious amateur and professional career. Taylor was quietly outraged and a year ago she became the undisputed super lightweight champion of the world when she defeated Cameron in the rematch.

She and Serrano were scheduled to meet in Texas in July, but the entire promotion had to be postponed after Tyson became ill due to a flare-up of his stomach ulcer. It was another sign that Tyson-Paul should be axed, but with hundreds of millions of dollars being generated on Netflix, the entire show was moved to this week.

Taylor typically avoids interviews, but it helps that we’ve spoken many times over the years. She is usually friendly and polite and in a positive mood. Understandably, she also chose to become a diplomat, while focusing on the undoubted opportunity for her and Serrano to demonstrate their mettle and skills to a completely new audience.

“It’s just a great opportunity because millions of people will tune in to this fight,” Taylor says. “I think people are going to see women’s boxing at its very best and that is incredibly special for the sport.”

Taylor listens to my concerns about the evening at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, and the fact that Tyson won’t be allowed back in the ring for a competitive fight. “I certainly have the same concerns,” she admits, “but he looked really good against Roy Jones [in a drawn eight-round exhibition in November 2020]. He certainly hasn’t lived the cleanest life since then, but I think he’s cleaned up after himself in recent years. We hope that will be clear tonight, but he’s obviously having great experience and nothing is going to faze Mike Tyson.”

Taylor is an ambassador for the old-school boxing company Everlast, which has been making fighting gear and gear since 1910 and is firmly aligned with the ring’s traditionalists. Taylor clearly loves the sport with an abiding enthusiasm and sounds hopeful when I ask whether Tyson can beat his much younger rival. “I think so. I’ve recently seen clips of him training and he looks really good on the pads. But Jake is a fit man, a young man and also a good athlete. He seems to have a good punch and he’s starting to prove himself as a fighter. It’s very interesting, but I have a soft spot for Mike Tyson.

“I think if you’re a boxer it really matters that he does well and hopefully wins because Mike Tyson is an absolute legend in the sport. He was once known as the worst man in the world. He is super exciting to watch, a true iconic boxer. I have so much respect for him for what he has done in the sport and I would hate for a legend to lose a match like this. He is a hero to many of us warriors.”

Taylor and Tyson are seen as the clashes on the bill while Serrano is promoted by Paul – whose company is organizing the event in partnership with Netflix. Their kinship was strengthened by a long conversation they had before the first press conference in May. “We had a great chat and his knowledge of the sport is second to none. He’s a great boxing historian, so it was really special for me to get the chance to sit down and talk to someone who has so much knowledge and a great mentality.

She hates talking about retirement, but Taylor laughs when I ask if she can imagine doing something similar when she’s 58? “No! As soon as I retire, that will be the case. I’ve been hit enough in the last twenty years.”

Some of us hope that Taylor, who has done more than anyone for women’s boxing, will soon choose life on the safe side of the ropes. But she talks seriously and passionately about her desire to keep fighting for a few more years. She wants “a very special” decider in a trilogy with Cameron and, she says, “there are certainly other people I would like to fight. Alycia Baumgardner and Caroline Dubois are both fantastic fighters as well. It’s amazing that there are so many options, isn’t it?

Yet she now faces an extremely difficult evening against Serrano. Is she ready to go back to that dark and painful place she was in that brutal night of their first fight? “I’m very aware that I could go back to that place,” Taylor says. “That’s why I train so hard – to prepare for those fights. I’ve been in dark places during training camp and the male and female sparring partners I’ve had with me over the last few weeks have been phenomenal. I had to show a lot of heart during those sparring sessions and all the time. So this isn’t the first time I’ve gone through a dark place. I know what it feels like to dig deep and I will be prepared. I am ready for this fight.”

Halfway through the first fight, Taylor was in so much trouble that it looked like Serrano was about to stop her. “Afterward, people were talking about the fifth round and I was like, ‘What happened?’” Taylor says with a complicated smile. “I didn’t even realize what had really happened. I was lost in the fight and really I’m just there to throw punches. But I think at the end of that fifth round I was throwing punches at her. My mind quickly cleared and I won the second half of the fight.

Taylor loves to fight in the trenches, but she has the skill to beat Serrano if she takes a more tactical approach. “Yes, I definitely do,” she agrees. “I just have to be more disciplined about it and that’s something I’m trying to focus on. But I do realize that sometimes that is not the smartest move.”

She grins wryly, but then shakes her head when I ask if she’s concerned about how the fight might be judged, since this is a Jake Paul promotion in Texas. “That’s not something I ever think about,” she says. “It’s not the best thing a fighter should think about when you enter the ring. My job is to just fight and you obviously hope and pray that the assessment will be very fair. I just want the right winner to win the fight. But I have more important things to focus on.”

There is a purity to Taylor’s love for boxing and she approaches the fighting game very differently than most. It’s notable that she and Brian Peters, who has managed Taylor since she turned pro in 2016, never signed a contract to cement their working relationship. They prefer to rely on their mutual trust and the fact that they are both real boxers.

So it’s easy for Taylor, who is deeply religious, to rise above the charade of Tyson versus Paul and enjoy the seriousness of her own fight. “I think our styles fit together really well,” she says of Serrano. “She’s obviously a great fighter. I love boxing, but I can’t help but get involved in a fight like this. Our mentality is that we will do whatever it takes to win the fight, so it will be another explosive night. I’m just excited to get in there and perform because I think my best will beat Serrano’s.