Serrano: Taylor rematch “off the table” if she loses to Cameron a second time
Amanda Serrano doesn’t think she’ll fight Katie Taylor again if Taylor loses a rematch to Chantelle Cameron.
Amanda Serrano was originally scheduled to rematch Katie Taylor this past Saturday in Dublin, but when she pulled out due to injury, Chantelle Cameron replaced her in the bout, and beat Taylor by decision.
Serrano spoke with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour about that fight, her own upcoming bout with Heather Hardy on Aug. 5, and her thoughts on Alycia Baumgardner and Skye Nicolson as potential opponents.
“I feel the right woman won. It was a good fight, close fight, once again it was a great fight for women in the sport of boxing. We’re growing it and I’m super excited to see it. I had it 8-2, at worst 7-3. I think Cameron deserved and she got the win, and I’m happy she did,” she said.
But Serrano expressed a deep respect for Taylor, too, and said at this moment, she considers their rematch something that isn’t likely to happen, feeling Taylor will be completely focused on Cameron, and that nothing will change Katie’s mind.
“I think with Katie, there’s no convincing that woman,” she said. “That’s one thing I say. Like, I’m dedicated to the sport of boxing, but Katie’s on top, Katie’s on a different level. Everything is boxing to her. And I know she’s not gonna be able to get past this fight.”
On Taylor vs Cameron
“I feel the right woman won. It was a good fight, close fight, once again it was a great fight for women in the sport of boxing. We’re growing it and I’m super excited to see it. I had it 8-2, at worst 7-3. I think Cameron deserved and she got the win, and I’m happy she did.”
On whether she was surprised by Taylor’s approach
“No, I wasn’t surprised. Katie fought the way Katie fights. She’s tough and durable, and she went out and tried to fight as hard as she can. But Cameron’s a big girl. She’s tough, she’s strong, she’s undefeated, she’s the undisputed champion. She went out and knew what had to be done to beat Katie Taylor.”
On whether she thought Taylor made a mistake fighting Cameron
“Yeah. I was a little nervous. I was, like, ‘Oh, man,’ you know. But I’m pretty good friends with Cameron. We speak on social media. I love her, she’s a great fighter. I was a little scared, I was upset. Selfishly, I was, like, ‘Oh, man, this could be the end of my rematch with Katie,’ but then again, it was a great fight with undisputed vs undisputed. I know Katie only wants to fight the best. I thought it was a great, great fight for women’s boxing.”
On her withdrawal from the Taylor fight
“Well, I had injured my hand back when I fought Miriam Gutierrez. If you remember that fight, that was in Tampa, where I really, like, messed up her face. She was a big, durable girl, and she took everything that I gave her, and my hand felt it. (laughing) I hurt my hand, and every fight after that, I felt it. In training, I felt it. I mean, I’m not a complainer. I dealt with it and now it’s just, like, the last fight with Erika Cruz, she was coming in with her head, and I was hitting the top of her head, and I was hitting her a lot with my left hand. There was times where I’d hit her with one left hand and do it again, and I was, like, oh, man, but I wanted to win that fight, and I wanted it to be a nice war. I did what I had to do to make sure of that. Then after the fight, my hand just wasn’t up to it, plus I wasn’t expecting to get a cut again.”
On the hand injury now
“The hand is good now. I started training a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been using bigger gloves; I usually hit the bag with 8 or 10 oz (gloves), but I can’t now. Now I have to be smarter. I’ve been hitting the bag with 14 oz gloves, which is better for my hand to heal completely.”
On having any “FOMO” not fighting in Dublin on Saturday
“No, not at all. I wanted to be 100 percent. I know I have to be 100 percent to fight Katie Taylor. I’m just glad it was a great fight and women put on a show once again.”
On the Taylor vs Serrano rematch dying or not
“Definitely, I think it did. Katie is a warrior and she’s a fighter. She’s a true fighter and she’s gonna want to get that back. That’s gonna be on her mind 100 percent. Losing hurts. It does. It sucks big time. It being at home, it hurts a lot more. I hope she can mentally be ready for the rematch, but I respect what Katie’s gonna do, and that’s get the (Cameron) rematch.”
“Maybe (my rematch with Taylor) will (only) be delayed. If she comes out on top with the rematch, beating Cameron, which I don’t think that will happen. But if it does, maybe the rematch with me will happen. I just hope that Katie does the right thing and she wins.”
On whether she’d want the Taylor rematch if Taylor loses to Cameron again
“I don’t think it’s a good fight — our rematch is definitely off the table (if Taylor loses again). I don’t know what Katie’s gonna want to do after that, if she’s gonna retire, or — I don’t know. I know my career’s going to continue.”
On whether she’d be sad to not get a chance to avenge her loss to Taylor
“No. I believe I won the fight, the team believes I won the fight, the world seen what happened, but it sucks, losing and knowing you won the fight, losing and not getting it back. But I respect Katie Taylor. She got her first loss and she wants that win back.”
On trying to convince Taylor to do their rematch instead
“I think with Katie, there’s no convincing that woman. That’s one thing I say. Like, I’m dedicated to the sport of boxing, but Katie’s on top, Katie’s on a different level. Everything is boxing to her. And I know she’s not gonna be able to get past this fight.”
On how long it took her to get over the Taylor loss
“I’ve been over it. Like I said, it definitely hurts, but I felt like I did everything right, I felt like I won. ... I was happy that I did what I had to do. And I was going up two divisions. People don’t understand that. Katie went up one division and look what happened. I went up two divisions. I feel like I deserve the respect going up there and doing what I did to Katie. I felt like I hurt Katie multiple times in that fight, Cameron didn’t even do that. But there’s no regrets. I enjoyed that night with Katie Taylor, it was a great night for women’s boxing, and I moved on. I became undisputed champion where I belong at featherweight.”
On her rematch with Heather Hardy on Aug. 5
“Heather gave me the opportunity (in 2019) to go back to my division. After I won a belt at 115, after I made history becoming a seven-division champ. ... Heather is a true warrior. She’s a Brooklyn girl like me. ... Now she wants to become a champion again, she asked for the opportunity, and I said, ‘Let’s do it, girl.’”
On what her next “superfight” could be
“I don’t know who it is, but I know a big fight for me is going back home, headlining in Puerto Rico, as the undisputed champion. It would be amazing and that’s what we plan on doing after this event.”
On beef with Skye Nicolson
“Listen, I — I’m the champion, I’m the undisputed champion. And I understand, all these girls at featherweight, the only have one way to look and that’s up, and I’m the one up there, I’m on the top. I don’t see it as disrespectful, these girls calling me out, because there’s only one champion.
“But with Skye, I don’t think there’s — right now, I’m at the tail end of my career, and it’s (about) money fights. I don’t think Skye will bring that. I want to fight the best, I want to fight mainly other champions that are going to make us the money we deserve. Maybe in the future, I don’t know. I just don’t think — she’s only had seven fights, eight fights? I just don’t know.”
On whether she threw shade: “Maybe. She probably felt it was shade. But I don’t throw shade.”
“At this point, yeah, I don’t think it’s a good fight in general. Not that I’m afraid! But it’s just making money moves, making the right moves, and making the fights that make sense.”
On what she thought of Nicholson’s last fight: “[pause] Um. I didn’t see it. Sorry. I don’t watch boxing! I really don’t. Nah. I mean, I watch big fights, but sometimes they disappoint you, too. You get so amped up and then it’s a boring fight. So I only watch fights that interest me. Like Katie Taylor, like I said before, I was rooting for Katie, but that was my own reason, even though I know Cameron is a tremendous fighter. ... Then of course Haney-Lomachenko I watched, because I love Lomachenko. I don’t watch just — I don’t watch all fights.”
On whether she gave Cameron advice on Taylor
“[shrugs and laughs] Me and Cameron — I love Cameron, she’s a great woman, great fighter. I’m just happy that she won.”
On Alycia Baumgardner
“It would be a great fight. She’s said she’d like to fight me, too. When you’re on top, you only want to fight the best. With those fighters, I don’t mind. If it makes dollars, it makes sense.”
On any chance of returning to MMA
“Definitely. I’ve grown to love MMA. Not as much as boxing, but I have. MMA is completely different and I respect any fighter, every fighter. But MMA is a different beast. I would have to, like, completely stop boxing to dedicate in MMA. I’ve done both, and it’s too different, it’s too much for me.”