Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano embrace after an electrifying weigh-in at Madison Square Garden.Gary Carr/INPHO taylor v serrano preview When you make it in The Garden, you've made it everywhere The pressure is on Amanda Serrano to convert her promotional advantages into victory against a confident-looking Katie Taylor. 10.40am, 11 Jul 2025 Share options Gavan Casey Reports from New York FOR THE FIRST decade of its legendary 30-year run on NBC, Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show was recorded at the RCA Building at Rockefeller Plaza, New York. While he would later relocate to California, Carson’s studio, consisting of its original parts, is currently decked out on the second floor of the Paley Museum just a couple of blocks away from where his talk show began in 1962. It’s unspectacular until you clock the office chair behind his desk, which at first glance is of the bog-standard variety. But the seat of the chair slants drastically downwards towards the backrest, and only the back legs are in contact with the floor. It’s like an unintentional recliner. It looks bollocksed, truth be told. It felt as though to host a rugby podcast and sit in Carson’s seat would be to besmirch him in some way. It’s also one of this writer’s general rules to avoid falling arse-over-head in museums. That the curator was so insistent felt like a trap. But that was the point. It turns out that Carson’s chair hadn’t fallen out of the back of a lorry in transit but had been specifically designed by the Tonight Show presenter 63 years ago in exactly its current state. Indeed, it had cost the show a few quid to have a chair made so badly. Carson’s theory was that if he allowed himself the luxury of being able to sit back, he might become too relaxed during his interviews. To have to sit forward would ensure that he would remain visibly engaged with his guests for the duration of their shared conversation. The greats always find an edge, even if we don’t see it. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano light up the Empire State Building in their national colours.Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Two floors further up in the Paley Museum sits one of New York’s hidden treasure troves. Decades’ worth of American media archives are stored on its computers, which are accessible to the public as part of the $20 entry fee. Hours could be lost listening to the original radio broadcasts of Joe Louis’ fights from the 1930s, or watching Richard Harris interviews that never made it as far as YouTube. (Incidentally, RTÉ’s full TV broadcast of the 1980 All-Ireland hurling final between Limerick and Galway is also available, in case you’re ever looking). There are decades-old documentaries on Civil Rights, immigration, and past wars. There are full-length broadcasts from Olympics of yore. There are Richard Pryor comedy specials, moon-landing news bulletins, and compilations of adverts from the advent of television. Advertisement And then there are the Madison Square Garden archives, the wealth of which would persuade you that MSG’s ‘World’s Most Famous Venue’ moniker is not an example of American exceptionalism but flirting with the truth. Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Happy Birthday’ serenade of US president John F. Kennedy took place at the old Garden around the corner. John Lennon performed for the final time at the existing venue. Wrestlemania was born on Pennsylvania Plaza. The first boxing broadcast from MSG that pops up in the Paley’s files isn’t actually an official broadcast at all, but a video of an unnamed fight recorded on a hand-held camera from ringside by Andy Warhol. It’s surprisingly shite. Frank Sinatra, too, was confronted by his creative limitations at the same venue when he was deployed by Life Magazine as a guest photographer for the Fight of the Century between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Ol’ Blue Eyes was there with his elbows on the apron, getting papped from all angles by the pros whose art form he was bastardising. Once you’ve made it at The Garden, you’ve made it everywhere. That Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have added their names to that lore is an achievement worthy of acknowledgement in its own right. ‘The Mecca of Boxing’ opens the doors to its main arena only for fights that elevate the venue, and tonight’s protagonists nearly lifted the roof off the place when they first met in April 2022. Madison Square Garden’s top brass were devastated when Taylor and Serrano’s first rematch was diverted to Dallas eight months ago. They have actively courted Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions for the past three years in the hope of recapturing that magic. Tonight, live on Netflix, they will get their wish. Taylor and Serrano, meanwhile, will emulate Ali and Frazier in having fought two thirds of their trilogy at MSG. But who will find that Johnny Carson edge? Serrano, down 2-0 in the rivalry, has pulled every lever available to her, and perhaps even one too many. As the promotional A-side under MVP’s banner, the naturally lighter Puerto Rican dictated that this third meeting take place at a catchweight of 136 pounds, four pounds less than the light-welterweight limit at which she lost to Taylor in Dallas by the slimmest of margins. This was no skin off Taylor’s nose: the Irishwoman has campaigned for the majority of her career, professional and amateur, at lightweight, and she came in three ounces under the ceiling during the official, behind-the-scenes weigh-in at the Kimpton Eventi Hotel yesterday morning. Serrano, meanwhile, was AWOL, leading to some consternation among her promoters. Suspecting mind-games, Taylor and the bulk of her team hit the road, with only trainer Ross Enamait staying behind to witness The Real Deal’s registration on the scale as is mandated by the New York State Athletic Commission. While Taylor rehydrated and prepared to tuck into some pasta back at her hotel, Enamait was more than happy to report to HQ that Serrano had made weight but only barely: that she stepped on at exactly 136 pounds following a lengthy delay suggested that Serrano had woken up with work left to do on her weight cut, and a quick treadmill session or a trip to the sauna is far from optimal for a boxer who is already famished and minimising their water intake. It may be nothing. But it might be something. At the press conference a day earlier, when the topic of the catchweight was raised with Taylor, she sounded off on Serrano for trying to dictate too many terms from the position of challenger. She described MVP as being against her, which she added was “okay”. Taylor, whose relationship with her rival’s promotional outfit has become increasingly cordial, retracted that comment when speaking privately with MVP’s joint-boss Nakisa Bidarian soon afterwards. But there was a point during last night’s ceremonial weigh-in at which she might have wished she hadn’t. With hundreds of Irish and Puerto Rican fans stirring up a colourful ruckus in MSG’s downstairs Theater arena, Taylor was called first to the stage despite being the champion in this equation — another of Serrano’s contractual demands. With her confirmed weight from earlier in the day flashing beneath her on a digitalised platform, Taylor heartily saluted her supporters before setting up for her final staredown with Serrano. Katie Taylor responds to a rapturous reception from the Irish fans at Thursday's weigh-in.Gary Carr / INPHO Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO Then came her opponent, whipping her fans into a frenzy before stepping onto the same stage extension. At which point, MVP decided to give Serrano a lift — quite literally. The platform on which Taylor had stood moments earlier began to rise, elevating the ebullient Serrano towards the ceiling. The Puerto Ricans went wild. It was an unapologetic effort by the event’s promoters to distinguish their contracted fighter as the real star of the show, a sentiment into which they have leaned heavily since the build-up towards the second fight in Dallas. Taylor knew full well that this would be the case when she signed each of those contracts: as Serrano reached the end of her ascent, the Bray woman 30 feet beneath her was seen sharing a joke with Nakisa Bidarian, presumably along the lines of, ‘I knew you were against me.’ After a staredown for staredowns’ sake — Taylor and Serrano have shared too much in the ring, not to mind at similar promotional events, to glean anything from such formalities at this stage — a chorus of ‘Olé Olé’ broke out from the Irish fans, ensuring Taylor received at least a figurative lift. Both boxers appeared genuinely moved by the atmosphere, so much so that Serrano caught Taylor off-guard with a hug before they exited stage left. Her trainer-manager, Jordan Maldonado, offered his own smiley embrace, albeit he’s unlikely to remain so convivial if the boxers’ heads collide tonight as they did in Dallas last November. There truly is little point in predicting the outcome of Taylor-Serrano 3. Even the fighters themselves were coy when asked directly by MC Ariel Helwani as to who is going to win and why. The broader boxing industry will feel as though Serrano is owed one at this stage. If that perception seeps into the judges’ respective subconsciouses, Penn Plaza won’t be long turning into a Puerto Rican party. But Taylor has been the picture of confidence all week, and why wouldn’t she be? When push has come to shove in this rivalry, she has found the additional gear to kick for home. At 0-2 against her career nemesis, the pressure is on Serrano to convert her promotional advantages into victory. Taylor, 2-0 to the good, is effectively playing with house money even if she would baulk at the notion. A defeat won’t even leave a scratch on her legacy. But be it in The Garden or on our couches at home, we’ll all be sitting forward. Gavan Casey Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “When you make it in The Garden, you've made it everywhere”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “When you make it in The Garden, you've made it everywhere”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. Leave a Comment Submit a report Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines. Damaging the good reputation of someone, slander, or libel. Racism or Hate speech An attack on an individual or group based on religion, race, gender, or beliefs. 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