Forty days and forty nights in the wilderness hence, Katie Taylor will aptly arise, and arrive, from her Connecticut training camp into the bright lights of New York City ahead of one of the most important weeks of her boxing career.
The Bray boxing legend is putting it all on the line, once again, to defend her undisputed world lightweight title against her most recognised and decorated opponent since first stepping through the ring of the professional game in 2016.
Taylor takes on seven-weight world champion Amanda Serrano in the headline act at the iconic New York venue, Madison Square Garden, on 30 April in what is being hailed as one of the most important nights of the year for boxing, and the greatest ever event for the women’s sport.
In fact, the highly anticipated bout between the Olympic champion and the Puerto Rican New Yorker is an event that is set to transcend the sweet science and attract the attention of sports fans throughout the world.
Taylor has essentially been boxing all her life, and fighting for a living since that first professional encounter six years ago at the Wembley Arena, while Serrano’s first bout in the paid ranks came all the way back in 2009 where she secured a four-round majority decision against Jackie Trivilino.
The two dominant fighters of their generation around the featherweight and lightweight divisions, Taylor and Serrano were always likely to cross paths in this ever-emerging sport, and the seeds of next month’s encounter were sown around four years ago when Taylor agreed to fight elder sister Cindy at the Boston Garden in October 2018.
Gaining major exposure in the previous couple of years as the world champion sister double act - they are the only female siblings to become world champions at the same time – the Serranos added to the growing interest and industry of women’s professional boxing with Taylor 9-0 at that stage, and already a two-belt world champion.
Elder sister Cindy came into the Taylor fight as the reigning WBO featherweight world champion, and while the Brooklyn boxer moved up a division to challenge for the two lightweight belts on offer, Serrano was considered to be a level above most of the nine fighters that Taylor had previously faced.
As it transpired, Taylor could not have had an easier night at the office, as she floated to a facile, unanimous victory, winning every round on all three judges’ scorecards over the ten-round contest.
Serrano, to her credit, looked to box toe-to-toe with Taylor, who had mainly encountered street fighters on her professional voyage up to that point, however, the former amateur superstar showed her class from the opening bell and sent her opponent back to her corner bamboozled by the end of the opening two-minute stanza.
"Watch the hook, she’s a one-punch fighter," said Serrano’s trainer, Jordan Maldonado, at the end of that opening round – alas, on this occasion it was a case of husband not being completely honest with his wife.
The opening four or five rounds were so straightforward and simplistic for the dominating Taylor that she was reminded not to lose her concentration by her corner midway through the fight – Katie admitted afterwards that she got bored during the one-sided encounter.
Taylor responded with relentless aggression and accuracy that knocked Serrano around the ring with her opponent already looking to just stay on her feet and see the contest through.
In round seven, Taylor uncharacteristically started to showboat, dropping her hands behind her back and standing motionless in the middle of the ring before sitting on the ropes beckoning Serrano forward.
Needless to say, Serrano offered nothing and could barely even land on the statuesque Taylor, who dished out plenty more punishment in the closing rounds to maintain her unbeaten start and move to 11-0.
In fact, it was such a straightforward victory, it was no surprise that Katie wasted no time calling for the second Serrano sister immediately after the contest saying, "that fight is huge with myself and Amanda, and that’s the fight that everyone wants to see…I think she’s doing everything she can to avoid a fight with me".
Perhaps prescient, Serrano junior had been calling Katie out before she had even stepped into the ring with her older sister saying that she would knock Taylor out if Cindy couldn’t manage it.
And so it continued, as talk of a Taylor-Serrano sequel of sorts would continue to play out in the background as the champion went about her business, cleaning up the lightweight division, securing all available belts by the end of 2019, while the arrival of the coronavirus with accompanying sporting and travelling restrictions kicked the bout further down the road.
An unlikely but perhaps unsurprising addition to the story was the promotional partnership that Amanda Serrano announced with YouTuber and boxing usurper Jake Paul, and eventually the match was made, with renowned promoter Eddie Hearn staying true to his word to bring the Katie Taylor story to the world.
And so, the two will touch gloves in the heart of New York City on the last day of April, but there is no doubt that Taylor is unlikely to be troubled by another bout of ennui as she steps up for Serrano part two.
Had Taylor taken on the second Serrano sister soon after the first, there would have been a lot less hype due to the no-contest nature of the Cindy stroll, and it, no doubt, hit Amanda with a timely dose of reality as to what she could expect from the five-time world amateur champion.
From Taylor’s point of view, she will have learned nothing from the first encounter, as the Serrano siblings are, in fact, exact opposites when it comes to their approach to the fight game.
While Cindy looked to fight off the back foot against Taylor, Amanda will take the contest to the champion from the opening bell and will attempt to dictate the pace of the early rounds with her relentless approach and renowned power and fitness.
And while the sisters’ styles are chalk and cheese, their stance is similarly dissimilar as Cindy fights in an orthodox fashion as opposed to Amanda’s southpaw set-up.
The one thing that the two sisters do have in common is that they are both natural featherweights compared to Taylor who has only strayed once from the lightweight division, as she took Christina Linardatou’s world light-welterweight crown to become a two-weight champ in 2019.
Serrano’s strength and power will negate a large element of that nine-pound, or two-kilo, natural difference between the two fighters, and she proved herself at the lightweight mark in her last fight against Miriam Gutierrez, making light work of the contest with the bigger boxer.
And while Taylor has already accounted for one half of the Serrano sister double act, she must also be mindful of the fact that she embarrassed the family name by the way she humiliated Cindy back in Boston, in front of an Irish crowd, including chief cheerleader Conor McGregor.
New York will of course again bring out the Irish diaspora to cheer on the uncrowned queen of Ireland, however, the locals will also be out in their droves to support their own adopted Puerto Rican Brooklyn brawler, and whatever the outcome of the highly anticipated event, expect a trilogy to follow.
