Katie Taylor hits back at Amanda Serrano and her coach over headbutt claim
by Robert Hynes · Irish MirrorKatie Taylor has hit back at claims from Amanda Serrano and her team that she intentionally headbutted the Puerto Rican during their bout at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on Friday.
The Bray Bomber retained her WBA, WBO, WBC, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine super-lightweight world titles after another close bout with the Puerto Rican, who she now holds two wins over.
Having won via split decision at Madison Square Garden two and a half years ago, Taylor was successful unanimously this time around as the three judges all scored the bout 95-94 in her favour.
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However, Serrano, who suffered a bad cut to her eye from a clash of heads, and her team were furious afterwards, with Serrano saying: “I knew it if went to the judges it was going to be a little shady. I chose to be great. I went up three divisions. It is what it is. I’m a featherweight, man.
“She kept headbutting me. It’s what she does. It’s not just my fight, it’s all her fights. It’s what she does.”
The unified featherweight champion's trainer Jordan Maldonado echoed her comments, stating: “She’s so dirty, she leads with her head man, she’s such a nice person outside [the ring] but when she goes in there, she’s so dirty.
“A lot of her opponents have been cut and headbutted, she leads with her head man."
Taylor defended her actions, saying: “I certainly wasn’t fighting dirty. It gets rough in there. It was an absolute slugfest, a war.
“This is an amazing moment in women’s boxing. Thank god for another amazing fight.”
She added in her post-fight press conference: "It just happens sometimes, when you're fighting against a southpaw especially. The fighters come in close and it just happens.
"It was completely accidental. I think they're calling me a dirty fighter or whatever, but that wasn't purposely done.
"I'm in there fighting like she is and it's a rough sport and sometimes you get head clashes so you have to fight through those things. This is the fight game."
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