Katie Taylor made her professional debut in November 2016 following a decorated amateur career that included a
gold medal at the
2012 Olympic Games. At that time, Amanda Serrano was already a
four-weight world champion with a record of 30–1–1. Over the next three years, both women would see continued success. Serrano earned titles in three more weight classes to become a
seven-weight world champion, the second most of any boxer in history, only behind
Manny Pacquiao. She also began a career in
mixed martial arts, compiling a professional record of 2–0–1. Meanwhile, Taylor would become a world champion within a year of her debut, and eventually claimed all four divisional titles to become the undisputed lightweight champion. She then became a two-weight champion by defeating
Christina Linardatou at super-lightweight. The two were first scheduled to fight each other at the
Manchester Arena on May 2, 2020, which would have been the first defence for Taylor as undisputed lightweight champion. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the bout was postponed and rescheduled to July 4, with the venue changing to the
Matchroom Sport headquarters in
Brentwood, Essex. After being postponed for a second time, Taylor’s promoter
Eddie Hearn revealed he was in talks to secure a rematch between Taylor and
Delfine Persoon, who Taylor had narrowly beaten to become the undisputed lightweight champion on the undercard of
Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. On July 9, it was confirmed that the Taylor vs. Persoon rematch would take place on August 22 on the undercard of
Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin. Taylor won the fight by
unanimous decision. In the 16 months that followed, Taylor and Serrano won four fights each, taking their respective records to 20–0 and 42–1–1. On January 27, 2022, the bout was officially announced to be taking place on April 30, 2022 at
Madison Square Garden. The fight was co-promoted by Hearn's
Matchroom Boxing and
Jake Paul's
Most Valuable Promotions, who are the respective promoters of Taylor and Serrano, and was broadcast live on
DAZN. Following the official announcement of the fight, press conferences were held in
New York City and
London to promote the bout. During the London press conference, Serrano, citing the historic nature of the contest, suggested that the fight be 12 three-minute rounds, as is the case in men's world championship boxing, rather than the women's standard of 10 two-minute rounds. Taylor dismissed this idea, saying ”I don't think it will make a huge difference to the event; it's already iconic as it is.” Taylor already held a victory over Amanda's sister
Cindy, having defeated her by unanimous decision in October 2018. ==Weigh-in==