Two years in the making, the superfight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano finally takes place on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
The two pound-for-pound champions go head to head as women's boxing headlines the iconic New York venue for the first time in its 140-year illustrious history, and we will expect to see the best of both fighters, perhaps at the peak of their power in the latter stages of their respective careers.
A seven-weight world champion challenging Katie Taylor for her undisputed lightweight title, which includes the five belts of the respective WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO associations as well as the prestigious Ring Magazine strap.
The biggest night of Taylor’s career is how the Bray native described Saturday night’s fight, and while some might think the challenge she faced against Delphine Persoon was a tougher encounter, Serrano offers as much in the strength and power department, while she is also fitter and a more acomplished boxer than the Belgian former world champion.
As a result, Serrano should make it more difficult for Taylor to stick to her tactically approach to the fight, yet she still possesses all the skills necessary to dismantle her opponent, blow by blow, over what could be a highly entertaining ten round contest at the Garden.
A perfect preparation for the fight according to Taylor, who said that her camp went exactly according to plan, while she takes no injury issues into this fight compared to more recent encounters.
Working as ever in isolation up north of New York in Connecticut, alongside trusted coach Ross Enamait, Taylor was also very pleased with the quality of sparring that she has encountered throughout the camp, referencing the impact that amateur prospect Amy Broadhurst and Myles Casey have had during the build-up to this colossal encounter.
Serrano, likewise, has claimed to be in the shape of her life coming into this fight, and while she is naturally the smaller fighter, she may have enjoyed a more intensive week coming into the fight, not having to pay too much heed to the 135lb limit.
It was interesting to see Serrano tip the scales one full pound lighter than her opponent at Friday’s weigh-in, yet Taylor also was comfortably below the mark and looked strong and powerful at the Hulu Theatre event.
Taylor has been fighting at that weight for so long now that it was quite apparent that she had no issues on that front ahead of the fight.
So the historic night finally takes place on Saturday night with even Eddie Hearn admitting on Friday that while he promised Taylor that she would headline Madison Square Garden, he had his doubts that it would ever come to fruition.
The headline act on what will be a high-quality card at the New York venue, Taylor’s ringwalk is expected at 10.15pm New York time, which makes it an early Sunday morning 3.15am start back home in Ireland.
Ten two-minute round of what should be ferocious, frenetic fighting and with the shorter stanzas in the women’s game, as well as two rounds less than their male counterparts for championship fights, there really is little time for the boxers to work each other out.
Expect Serrano to look to dominate the centre of the ring to make a statement in the early exchanges, however, it will be intriguing to see how long it takes her to throw her first power-punch in Taylor’s direction.
Taylor will be happy to box on the outside for the first few rounds, you would imagine, counterpunching effectively from a safe distance, while making sure to stay off the ropes to allow her opponent to get in close.
Serrano’s strength really is that close-in, sharp, stinging shots, which have caused her previous opponents real damage, and is an indication why she has such a strong knock-out record.
But if Katie can frustrate the Brooklyn native, then we could see Serrano get desperate by firing longer range efforts, looking to land.
Such shots would play into Taylor’s hands as Serrano tends to finish those long-range blows off balance and it could really open the door for the champion to exploit.
"The most important thing is to win the fight, and whether people see it as exciting or boring, that’s not my problem," said Taylor at the press conference when asked if she sometimes feels the need to entertain en route to victory.
"If it’s a case of winning the fight boring, they so be it, but I don’t think I have a boring style," she added.
"I do love a tear up every now and then, that’s just my nature.
"And I think the fight is going to get there at some stage. The fight is going to get close at some stage, and I think our styles match up very well and it’s going to be a very exciting fight."
Coming into the fight as a narrow underdog in relation to how the bookmakers see the fight going, there is a narrative knocking around that Katie has been in too many wars in her career, with the Persoon first fight still causing people to doubt whether the champion can maintain her unblemished record in the sport.
But as her coach has predicted, great sportspeople rise to the occasion and perform to their optimum on the biggest stage.
And this really is Taylor’s biggest stage thus far in her career – a homecoming rematch at Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium might trump Madison Square Garden – and as a result, the hunger and enthusiasm was again very much in evidence throughout the week ahead of the fight.
Interesting, at the same time, that Katie did ponder the legacy that she would leave after the journey to Madison Square Garden, pushing the door wide open for the next generation of female fighters.
"This is for the next generation of female fighters," said Taylor. "This is to inspire the next generation of female fighters and that is what is all about for me and that is the best part of this legacy."
The legacy, just like the Olympic gold medal and the undisputed world title, is already cemented in the history books.
They are calling the fight 'For History', and there really would be no justice if the winner's name for that particular chapter of the history book didn't read "Katie Taylor".
Verdict: And Still…!
Follow Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano with live updates on RTE.ie/Sport and RTÉ News app from Sunday at 2.30am
