NEW YORK -- The first thing you noticed was the din and the density of the crowd, Madison Square Garden packed once again for Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor, standard-bearers for a professional sport that barely existed a decade ago: women's boxing. Second were the flags, banners signifying two islands, Ireland and Puerto Rico, whose peoples have been fighting here, in this city, and this arena, for longer than most of us can remember.
Indeed, for all the hype -- or perhaps, in spite of it -- there was something ancient about the full-throated chants and war cries that preceded Taylor and Serrano into the ring. The first two fights in this historic, if lopsided, trilogy had been wars. The second installment, a bloody affair last November, set a record for punches landed in a 10-round women's fight. No doubt this would be more of the same.
"Where is Taylor vulnerable?" I asked Serrano late Thursday afternoon.
"Well, she's an Irish fighter," said Serrano, a seven-division champion from Brooklyn by way of Puerto Rico. I asked what she meant by that.
"She's as tough as they come. But she's always going to fight. And that makes her vulnerable because I punch harder than she does."
Serrano is the heavier-handed woman. A brawl would work in her favor. No way Taylor could resist, I figured, what with the Irish fans' serenade -- Oh-lay-oh-lay-oh-lay-oh-lay -- as she prepared to make her ring entrance.
In fact, Taylor would cite her debt to those legions of Irish fans as soon as the fight was over. "I just love you all and love my country," she said. "I feel like when I step in here, I represent my country. I represent every single one of you guys."
But that glorious, anticipated war never happened. Taylor, at 39 years old, a two-time Olympian, boxed as beautifully as she ever had. This was set up for Serrano. She was fighting at home. Her promoter, Most Valuable Promotions, was running the show. Though the undisputed 140-pound championship was at stake, the 136-pound catchweight favored Serrano.
"I love these kinds of challenges," Taylor said.
This one proved less physical than mental, though. Taylor never let it become a brawl. She never gave in to her own formidable sense of aggression. She left with a mouse beneath her right eye, the result of a long left by Serrano.
Beyond that, though, Serrano inflicted no damage. She could never solve the distance. She spent most of the night chasing, and missing. Per CompuBox, Serrano missed 312 of the 382 punches she threw.
It wasn't a thriller. Taylor herself erred on the side of caution, having a healthy respect for Serrano's power. "She punches too hard," Taylor would say. Still, by the sixth round, the pattern had become clear, as were the chants sounding through the Garden: "Ka-tie! Ka-tie! Ka-tie!"
"I was obviously planning to come in here and fight disciplined and smart," she said. "I was planning to do that the other two times as well, but it didn't work out like that. But thankfully, I was able to execute the game plan very well and move my feet."
As trilogies go, this was as peculiar as it was historic. While Taylor went into the third fight up 2-0, she could arguably have been down 2-0. Not Friday, though. If their third fight was the least violent, it also provided the clearest outcome.
"I want to thank Amanda Serrano as well, what an amazing fighter," she said. "We made history together three times ... such a privilege to share the ring with her. ...We're history-makers forever. My name is embedded with Amanda's forever."
As it ended, you could see Serrano struggling to contain the flood of emotions. "They tried something different," she said. "It was all about working smarter, not harder. I tried to keep my distance, tried not to go in there and fight with her because apparently it didn't work the first two fights, so we tried to just stick with the long punches, the one-twos, and I guess it just wasn't enough."
One judge had it even. Two called it 97-93 for Taylor. I had six rounds to three for Taylor, reluctantly calling the first round a draw. Still, that misses the larger point. "I really want to thank you for every single one of you coming out and supporting women's boxing," continued Serrano, addressing the fans, both hers and Taylor's. "It was an amazing night for us women, and I'm crying because you all, because of you guys."
The biggest names in the men's game have trouble filling the big room at the Garden, and the seating configuration is often scaled down. But Taylor and Serrano have sold it out twice since 2022. Unlike the men, no one needs to beg or bribe them to fight. Serrano started boxing just to tag along with her older sister, Cindy. "I never thought I would become a world champion," she told me Thursday afternoon. Never thought she'd be rich, either. Now she's making millions.
It's been nine years since Serrano became only the second Puerto Rican fighter to win titles in four divisions (the other being Miguel Cotto). Her purse that night? "Four thousand dollars," she said. "I thought about quitting after that. I thought about quitting many times."
I asked her what she was proudest of.
"The noise," she said.
Serrano was being very specific here. She was referring to the sound that would accompany her entrance, and Taylor's, at Madison Square Garden -- that full-throated din amid all the banner waving.
"That sound," she said. "It's opening the doors for all these young ladies."