Amanda Serrano Says Rematching Katie Taylor Is The Only Way She Moves Up In Weight

Amanda Serrano will only move up in weight if it is to rematch Katie Taylor, if not, she says she’s focused on defending her belts at featherweight.

Serrano lost a close decision to Taylor last year and since then, many fans have made it clear they want to see the fight again. However, it hasn’t been booked yet but as Serrano prepares to face Erika Cruz on Saturday, she believes with a win here, she will get the rematch with Taylor.

“God willing all goes well, the only fight I’m going up in weight for after this is the rematch with Katie Taylor,” Serrano told BoxingScene.com. “After that, I’m done chasing divisions. I want to stay put at featherweight. It’s where I feel the most comfortable. The only way I’m moving up again is for the Katie Taylor rematch.”

Although many boxers like the idea of moving up in weight so they don’t have to cut any weight, that isn’t the case for Amanda Serrano. Instead, her head trainer says Serrano has to make herself eat to gain the weight to be able to fight Taylor.

“It’s always Amanda making the sacrifice,” noted Jordan Maldonado, Serrano’s head trainer, and brother-in-law. “Katie’s always stayed at lightweight except for that one fight (versus Christina Linardatou for the WBO junior welterweight title in November 2019). Nobody talks about the fact that Katie has fought a lot of girls at 126 and 130 who moved up in weight to fight her. Those are the girls making the sacrifices. Katie is the one who’s comfortable. She’s been where she is since the amateurs. She moved for that one fight then came back down.

“For us, it takes a toll. After this fight, Amanda has to go to McDonalds, force feed herself to fight Katie at her weight and then come back down after that to defend our featherweight championship. After that (Taylor rematch), we’re done chasing weight divisions. We can’t be the ones always having to prove ourselves. After the rematch, we’re going to finish at featherweight.”

Although everyone believes Serrano will win and set up the rematch against Taylor, the champ isn’t focused on any of that.

“I’m not even looking that far,” insists Serrano. “I have Erika in my sights. Featherweight is always the division I wanted and I’m just focused on this.”

Do you think the Amanda Serrano-Katie Taylor rematch happens in 2023?