IN terms of the importance of a fight and size of event, it doesn’t get a whole lot bigger than Saturday night in New York when Katie Taylor puts her undisputed lightweight title on the line against seven-weight champion Amanda Serrano (live on DAZN from 12.30am Sunday, Irish time).

This will be the first time that a women’s fight tops the bill in the main arena at Madison Square Garden and it’s not just for show, as this is a megafight in its own right and such is the case, the clamour for tickets has been huge with a near-capacity crowd expected for this showdown to decide just who is the number one pound-for-pound female fighter on the planet.

It is a megafight in its own right, yet it would still be remiss to ignore its historic significance.

For the first time in her professional career, Taylor will enter as an underdog - an unthinkable situation not so long ago as the Irish megastar cut a swathe through the 135lb division.

Yes, there was that night in the Garden in 2019 when top of the bill Anthony Joshua was stunned by Andy Ruiz and Taylor just about managed to get past Delfine Persoon when many felt it was a draw, but Taylor would win a little more convincingly over the Belgian a year later and followed up with a typically dominant display against Miriam Gutierrez to close out 2020.

However, the three performances since have been far from convincing with Natasha Jonas just about edged out and while she won wide over both Jennifer Han and Firuza Sharipova, there have been clear signs of deterioration.

Whether Taylor was simply unmotivated for those fights or the pain barrier she fought through in her last two with a calf injury was the cause instead of simply beginning to slow down at 35 will be answered on Saturday against southpaw Serrano who is two years her junior.

The Puerto Rican has had over twice as many professional contests as the Bray woman and brings a record of 42-1-1 into this contest with that sole defeat coming almost 10 years to the day when dropping a points decision to Frida Wallberg in Sweden for the WBC super-featherweight title.

Since then, ‘The Real Deal’ has lived up to her ring moniker with 28-straight victories and has a knockout ratio of 68 per cent to Taylor’s 30, suggesting that if a stoppage is to come then it will be Serrano despite being the naturally smaller woman.

It all points to a fascinating battle ahead and one that has captured the imagination of fight fans the world over.

“I think why this fight is so big is that it’s the best fighting the best in the world,” said Taylor this week

“The Olympic gold medal was a childhood dream for me and the biggest accolade you can get as an amateur - to represent your country at the Olympic Games.

“I’ve been blessed to have a great career, but I think Saturday night is going to be the best night of my life and everything else will pale in comparison.”

It isn’t so long ago that the notion of a female fight being the main attraction at Madison Square Garden would have been scoffed at, but it’s a sign of just how far women’s boxing has come that Saturday’s showdown looks right at home, sandwiched between the Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte heavyweight battle in front of 94,000 at Wembley last week and next week’s light-heavyweight rumble between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol.

Indeed, it has also somewhat overshadowed another huge fight on Saturday that takes place in Las Vegas between Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez.

“I’ve always wanted to break records and make history,” said Serrano

“To be in this iconic event and sharing the ring with Katie Taylor, another amazing champion, undisputed and undefeated champion, is and honour.

“Madison Square Garden is almost sold out and they say they don’t want to see women fight - this tells you something totally different.”

Taylor and Serrano have circled each other for a number of years and were due to fight two years ago, but with the pandemic throwing everything into disarray and boxing going behind closed doors, it would have been a huge opportunity missed had these two megastars gloved-off in a sedate environment without the fanfare and atmosphere it not only deserves, but demands.

The greats of boxing have all topped the bill in Madison Square Garden and on Saturday, Taylor and Serrano will add their names to that tapestry.

It’s taken longer than expected to get here and the delay may have worked out a little better for Serrano with Taylor’s performances not what they have been, yet in a fight of 10 two-minute rounds, is there enough in the tank to take six of those frames?

It will certainly be tough, but also within her grasp if she can find that old magic one more time to cap a quite incredible career.

McCafferty returns in Sheffield
On Friday night, Kristina McCafferty will step through the ropes as a pro for the second time at the Double Tree Hotel in Sheffield.

The opposition is Camila Erica Avaca and the West Belfast woman will be keen to deliver another eye-catching display having accounted for Maira Dayana Loyola in impressive fashion at the same venue on her debut back in November.