Katie Taylor has retained her WBA and IBF world lightweight titles in a one-sided points victory over an overwhelmed Cindy Serrano in Boston on Saturday night.
Taylor’s professional record now stands at 11-0, after all three judges scored a lop-sided affair 100-90 in a fight the Bray-native dominated from the first bell.
The first few rounds were tentative, as both fighters looked to set out their stall. However, it was Taylor who took the initiative, closing off the space and landing effective body and head combos, while Serrano seemed happy to bide her time and wait for a mistake that never came.
As the fight went on, the aggression went up a notch from Taylor as Serrano struggled to deal with her younger counterpart. Massive combos and shots to the body early in the sixth rocked the Puerto Rican, with Taylor trying desperately to become the first to stop the 35-fight veteran.
If Taylor was aggressive and intense, Serrano was conservative and underwhelming, something that seemed to frustrate Katie as she went so far as to drop hands and dare Serrano to come forward in the seventh in a demonstration of showmanship not often seen.
Despite the challenge, Serrano was happy to see out her inevitable defeat. Taylor continued to come forward, landing big right-hands to the head of Serrano in the eighth, a trend that continued into the ninth. Meanwhile, Serrano — attempting to survive what looked like a inevitable stoppage — latched onto the superior Taylor, leading to a caution from the referee.
The 10th was more of the same. Serrano was warned that her conservative approach may force the referee to stop the fight. Despite this watning, Serrano managed to hold out as Taylor defended her titles in a dominant and classy performance, with all three judges rewarding all 10 rounds to the Irish fighter.
