Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano World championship Dublin rematch in jeopardy

The respected International Boxing News website reported today that Serrano has pulled out of the fight.

Though there is no official confirmation that this is the case it is understood negotiations between Matchroom and Most Valuable Promotions – who represent Serrano – have been difficult.

The fight was announced earlier this month moments after the Puerto Rican born fighter had become the undisputed featherweight champion of the world when she beat Erika Cruz in Madison Square Garden.

The news was overshadowed because Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn also confirmed the rematch between the undisputed lightweight champion Taylor and Serrano would not take place in Croke Park as had been originally intended.

No venue in Dublin was confirmed but it was anticipated that the May 20 clash would take place in the 3Arena. Significantly, however, planned press conferences for New York and Dublin to announce the rematch planned for the following week were subsequently cancelled.

Hearn did fly into Dublin for a meeting with Conor McGregor who had offered to meet the security costs of staging the Croke Park show. Essentially this was just a publicity stunt though Hearn did confirm that the May 20 show would almost certainty take place in the 3Arena.

It is not surprising that Serrano is reluctant to fight in the 9,000 capacity 3Arena. Her management team agreed to come to Dublin on the basis the fight would take place in the 80,000 capacity Croke Park.

It would have garnered worldwide attention for being the first female fight to top the bill on a stadium show and Serrano would have secured a huge purse.

However, she would have had to make do with a much reduced pay cheque for a fight in the 3Arena.

When Taylor and Serrano clashed in Madison Square Garden last April there was a sell-out attendance of 19,187 with the gate receipts exceeding €1.36m.

Unless the average cost of the tickets for the 3Arena was in the region of €150 each it would not have been possible to match that figure.

It is probable that the May 20 Taylor homecoming fight will go ahead with a different opponent.

Eddie Hearn has already name-checked England’s Chantelle Cameron, the current undisputed light welterweight World champion as a future Taylor opponent.

Ironically, in the event of the May 20 show being a commercial success and Taylor maintaining her one hundred percent record it would revive interest in a Croke Park showdown between Taylor and Serrano in September.

The GAA would be more receptive to this date than the planned Mayo 20 show. But there is still a yawning gap of around three quarters of a million euro in what Matchroom are prepared to pay Croke Park and what the stadium is demanding.

Matchroom and Most Valuable Promotions have been contacted and asked to comment on the latest developments.