Katie Taylor said she was ready for an April fight with Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden after retaining her she retained her undisputed world lightweight title with a unanimous points decision over Kazakhstan’s Firuza Sharipova in Liverpool. 

Eddie Hearn claimed a fight with Serrano will be next, after two years of on-off negotiations, providing Serrano beats Miriam Gutierrez, a former Taylor opponent, next week in Florida.  

“The biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing,” Hearn said, while Taylor seems more than ready to take a step up again after three wins in 2021. 

“This is why I am involved in professional boxing,” Taylor said. “We are ready for a big 2022. It has to be the biggest fight in professional boxing ever, an absolutely historic fight. It’s more than a dream.” 

Sharipova had been put forward by the WBA as a mandatory opponent and while the 27-year-old Kazakh had a decent enough record of one defeat in 15 fights, there was a distinct lack of notable names on it. Neither did she have anything like Taylor’s amateur credentials.  

The Kazakh did not seem overawed by Taylor and had some success, particularly up close when the action was messy, although Taylor always was able to find the better punches. 

Sharipova tried to get through with her jab early on but was made to look a bit ponderous when her shots fell short and were countered by Taylor’s quick flurries. 

After a couple of rounds at distance, Taylor went after Sharipova at the start of the third, landing a big left and then rocking Sharipova back on her heals as Taylor landed a stiff jab. 

The Kazakh did better at the start of the fourth as she tried to walk Taylor into a big right hook and, when Taylor landed a big right, Sharipova responded with one of her own. 

But when Taylor worked from distance, she did well and landed a big right in the fifth, when she was also bothered by damage around the right eye. Sharipova was also deducted a point in the sixth round for hitting in the break. 

The longer the fight went, the more Sharipova seemed to tire, and the action got messy, although she clipped Taylor with two sharp rights at the end of the seventh round. Indeed, the snap went out of Taylor’s work in the eighth round, as she was often out of range, although she was more dominant in the ninth when a right hand saw Sharipova looking to hold and she walked the Kazakh into a number of good rights. 

Sharipova put all her energy into the final round, but as she left herself open, Taylor landed two big left hooks. 

All three judges sided with Taylor, Marcus McDonnell scoring it 98-92, Jean-Robert Laine 97-92 and Pawel Kardyni 96-93. 

“Everyone else thought it was going to be an easy fight but we were well aware of the challenge and prepared for a tough fight,” Taylor said. “She was scrappy inside and we were prepared for everything that came our way. 

“Overall it was my 20th fight, 20 wins, still undisputed, still undefeated, so I can’t complain.” 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.