IRELAND'S Katie Taylor takes on Puerto Rican Amanda Serrano in their third clash this Friday evening in the heart of New York City, the centre of the boxing world, and the infamous Madison Square Garden.
This is not a local fight but it has massive local consequences. Firstly for all boxing fans it is a fascinating match up. The first two fights had everything. There was technical and strategic boxing for the purists in the opening and middle rounds. For those who like a war, each fight went the distance and ended with two bloodied warriors propped against each other centre ring and furiously trading blows.
Entertainment aside, most importantly Katie has a profound impact on grassroots boxing as she encourages a new generation of girls to step into the ring, something that has often been stigmatized in the past. This goes beyond lacing up a pair of gloves, it instils belief that they can compete at local, national, World Championship or Olympic level, and then, can move onto a professional career, travel the world, sell out stadiums and make their dreams a reality. Katie has done it all.
The softly spoken Taylor unites Ireland and the diaspora, not only in the United States but across the world. All three fights have been in the US where both fighters have had massive support through the 20 rounds they have already shared together.
We’ve seen in men’s boxing how re-matches and trilogies can become stale as they block new match-ups and years of a fighter's career can become centred on one opponent. But this one is different. For Katie, a win puts any doubts on the last two split decision wins to bed. For Serrano victory would mean redemption. There won’t be a fourth so this feels like a decider.
Katie has recently turned 39. It's rarely said but she should be mentioned alongside Christiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer or Le Bron James as an athlete pushing the boundaries of longevity at the highest level in sport. This is even more impressive given the brutality of her chosen sport. The old saying goes, "you don’t play boxing".
But this isn’t just about boxing, not just about sport, not about barriers or overcoming them. It’s about an Irish girl taking on the world with class, grace and tenacity and winning in style as she goes. Win or lose on Friday night Ireland will be proud.
