Written by Katie Taylor | Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Netflix
Katie Taylor isn’t going to be hasty about her future.
On Friday night, Taylor added another win to her legendary career, taking a majority decision victory over Amanda Serrano in their trilogy bout at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Taylor already had two wins over Serrano, but this was arguably the least controversial of the bunch, and effectively ended the biggest rivalry in women’s boxing history, with Taylor remaining undefeated in it.
So with that rivalry now in the rearview mirror, it begs the question, what’s next? Taylor is 39 years old, has nothing left to prove in the squared circle, and has already spoken about being near the end of her career. But fresh off a throwback performance, Taylor is not ready to make a decision on her fighting future right now, one way or the other.
“I don’t know,” Taylor said when asked about retirement at her post-fight press conference. “I’m just going to enjoy this victory right now, and sit back and reflect. I’ll make a decision on that soon. I’m very, very happy with tonight’s performance and the amount of work we put in the last few months. It was a grueling few months of preparation. We live for these kind of fights and I was so glad I was able to showcase what I can do tonight.”
If Taylor does continue to fight, it’s unlikely her next opponent will draw the same sort of attention as the trilogy with Serrano did, considering how big of an event this was. But there are other things that could interest Taylor for a future fight, namely, an event back in Ireland.
“Maybe Croke Park?” Taylor said about a possible next fight. “That would be unbelievable. I said in the ring earlier on, these people are spending their hard-earned money to come over and support me. It just means the world. Honestly, I can’t believe that this is my life. I’m headlining a show at Madison Square Garden, and all-female card. Looking back at the whole journey, what an amazing life. These are nights that I dreamed of as a kid. And to be sitting here again as a winner, I’m just so happy, so grateful.”
And while this is far from definitive, if Taylor’s management is any indication, this won’t be the last time we see “The Bray Bomber.”
“I think you’ve earned the right to do whatever you want,” promoter Eddie Hearn said. “Those fights with Chantelle [Cameron] were great, Serrano, great. If it was a really tough fight tonight, maybe we’d be sitting here and saying, ‘Is that the end of the road?’ But I feel like Katie could do another 20 or 30 rounds. So she’ll decide if she’s going to fight again. For me, I think she’s got at least 11 or 12 left.”