Katie Taylor was afraid that her undisputed lightweight world title fight would end up on Jake Paul's undercard when the YouTube star got involved with promotion.
Taylor, the defending champion, takes on fellow pound-for-pound great Serrano at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night. The event is being co-promoted by two of boxing's most divisive figures in Paul and Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn, with the pair each set to make millions in an historic bout.
But when Paul first began to make himself known as part of the promotion, Taylor was concerned that she would find herself fighting one of the biggest bouts in history as chief support to a YouTube star. Instead, Paul and Hearn have worked tirelessly to push the event to the masses, with the YouTuber even moving his own boxing return so as to share the spotlight with Serrano.
"I guess I first became aware of Jake Paul when he had his first fight a couple of years ago," Taylor told Mirror Fighting , joking that she should put the word 'fight' in air quotes. "That's my idea of trash talking, that's it over!
"That's when I became aware of Jake Paul and then he started working with Amanda and here we are. I know he's been working with Amanda for the last couple of fights now and obviously myself and Amanda were in talks for a couple of years now.
"I'm glad that he's involved right now to help get this fight over the line, originally I was thinking 'I hope I'm not on the undercard of a Jake Paul fight'! That would be an awful shame.
"I'd be going 'I can't believe I'm fighting Amanda Serrano on a Jake undercard', but obviously now we're here headlining. Jake's been an absolute gentleman over these last few months, I can't say anything bad about him."
Taylor is one of the most important and beloved figures in women's boxing history, and has yet to be defeated since turning professional under Hearn's guidance. Serrano has taken the road less travelled throughout her career, but still managed to rack up world titles at seven different weights.
Who wins on Saturday night; Katie Taylor or Amanda Serrano? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
When she was picked up by Paul's Most Valuable Promotions last year, Serrano was keen to make the Taylor fight, but was concerned that she would be underpaid. But the YouTube star, a 5-0 professional in his own right, has risen her stock to a level now where both women will be compensated adequately for such a major event.
Neither Taylor or Serrano have picked up Paul's ability to trash talk along the road to the super-fight, and have remained respectful throughout the build-up. "Obviously you're involved with press conferences here and there," Taylor added. "She seems very respectful.
"I think she seems like a great person and I have no badness towards her whatsoever. She's just here to fight as well, I don't think she's a trash talker in any way, she seems respectful and like she's just here for business."
