The postal service, Frank Sinatra and now the fight gods call it New York, New York, for a reason.
This Friday-Saturday doubleheader of main events – starting with the Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano trilogy bout at Madison Square Garden and closing with the intense Edgar Berlanga-Hamzah Sheeraz super middleweight clash at Louis Armstrong Stadium – has the makings of a compelling twin bill.
On Tuesday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “BoxingScene Today,” the cast weighed in on each card’s strengths.
The third meeting between Ireland’s undisputed junior welterweight champion Taylor, 24-1 (6 KOs) and Puerto Rico’s seven-division champion Serrano, 47-3-1 (31 KOs), headlines an all-women’s card on Netflix.
“There’s no ducking and diving, juking and jiving like with some of the male fighters,” said BoxingScene Today analyst and former junior welterweight titleholder Chris Algieri. “Amanda and Katie have transcended boxing.”
Their two narrow decisions begged for a third meeting after Taylor opened head cuts on Serrano with headbutts in their November fight supporting the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson card.
Analyst and former two-division titleholder Paulie Malignaggi called Taylor-Serrano “the biggest rivalry in the history of women’s boxing,” and a rising tide lifting up the sport’s other talented fighters, including Claressa Shields, Mikaela Mayer, Alycia Baumgardner and Gabriela Fundora.
“It’s a great generation with an outstanding rivalry,” Malignaggi said, adding that he’s “curious to see the adjustments from both fighters who are past their prime.”
Trainer Robert Garcia said he’s picking Serrano because of the motivation she feels in losing both fights and the fact she’s fighting “fresher” – “There’s times the body’s had enough, I see that with Taylor,” he said – predicting Serrano will gain the close decision this time.
“One adjustment … she hurts her opponents. She needs to up her finishing skills,” Malignaggi said of Serrano. “That’d be the exclamation point.”
Algieri argued that Serrano’s interest in doing so is hindered by two-minute rounds.
Additionally, “Taylor doesn’t know how to lose. Like [unbeaten heavyweight champion Oleksandr] Usyk.”
Malignaggi elaborated to note: “It’s about knowing how to win the round – the flurry as the round is ending, getting the better of an exchange. She gives the illusion she won the round by getting the crowd on its feet.”
Malignaggi thought Taylor’s headbutting, which cost her a one-point deduction in November by opening a nasty cut on Serrano’s eyelid, was premeditated.
“She was fighting like a billy goat,” he said.
Garcia countered that he didn’t believe the butts were on purpose and more a result of the righty-lefty matchup.
Should Serrano’s strong chin hold up, Algieri also likes her to avenge those close losses.
Meanwhile, on Saturday is a show featuring unbeaten three-division titleholder Shakur Stevenson defending his WBC belt in the co-main event versus unbeaten top-ranked contender William Zepeda of Mexico, followed by the Berlanga-Sheeraz bout in the headliner.
Neither fighter won his most recent significant bout. Berlanga lost to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September, then returned in March with a quick win over Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz. Sheeraz fought to a draw with WBC middleweight titleholder Carlos Adames in February. But the stakes of this clash are lofty, given the main-event position on the DAZN pay-per-view and the possibility of landing a 2026 date with Alvarez.
The cast was intrigued by the contrast of the finely dressed Sheeraz versus the chain-wearing Jersey Shore look of Berlanga.
Amid the trash talk, England’s Sheeraz has surpassed Berlanga as the betting favorite thanks to the considerations for his boxing skill, with Algieri wondering if “the physicality” of the bigger Berlanga “bothers Sheeraz, or does Berlanga struggle to make weight” and turn in a weakened showing while getting outboxed.
Malignaggi said the intrigue is stark because each wants “to establish their own name and legacy. This will show their determination, hunger and violence.”
Garcia predicts Berlanga’s size will allow him to “pull it out, but it will be close.”
“Edgar Berlanga is slightly overrated. He has to prove he can win at this level,” Malignaggi said.
