(SEPT 17) Katie Taylor, fresh off her historic win at Madison Square Garden, in which she defeated Amanda Serrano in the headline bout of an all-women’s card at the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” will be recognized as Professional Boxer of the Year next month by the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame.
The undisputed super lightweight champion is a sports icon in her native Ireland, but Taylor lives and trains in Connecticut, in relative anonymity.
Her trainer, Ross Enamait, of Waterford, will be honored with the Trainer of the Year award.
“To have Katie Taylor, considered by many to be the best female fighter in the world at this junction, to be honored at our induction dinner, adds to the prestige of our event,” said Sherman Cain, secretary for the CBHOF.
Taylor’s July 11 win over Serrano, a seven-division champion, was the third and likely final meeting between the two great warriors. This time around, Taylor made a point to showcase her boxing skills, rather than engage in a back-and-forth slugfest.
The first Taylor-Serrano fight took place at MSG and the second one took place on the undercard of the mega event between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which aired on Netflix and brought both women’s popularity to new heights. Taylor’s more educated feet, and quicker hands, made the third fight far less tricky to score.
Serrano would tell anyone who listened that she deserved the nod in the second fight but after their July meeting, she couldn’t make such a claim. Taylor deserved the victory and cemented her status as one of the greatest female fighters of all time.
“It’s great that Katie is being recognized by the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame,” said Enamait. “As a future first ballot Hall of Fame inductee, she is certainly deserving.”
He added, “There aren’t many fighters who’ve been involved in 20 world title fights; became a two-weight undisputed world champion, sold out Madison Square Garden twice, and is a multiple time Fighter of the Year recipient by the Boxing Writers Association of America. She was also involved in, and won, the 2022 Fight of the Year according to Ring Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and others, and is currently recognized as Ring Magazine’s #1 pound-for-pound female fighter in the world. As I said, [this honor] is well deserved.”
Taylor is the first female to ever be nominated as Professional Boxer of the Year. Board members were looking to nominate a male until someone suggested Taylor.
“From there it was absolutely a no-brainer,” said referee Johnny Callas, CBHOF Hall of Famer who serves on the Board of Directors. “I confirmed that she has been a resident of Connecticut since moving here seven or eight years ago.”
Callas added, “Paul Cichon from Manchester’s Ring of Champions Society (ROCS) boxing gym, further confirmed that when she is not in camp she trains at ROCS. After that, there was no push back at all. How could there be? Katie is probably pound-for-pound the greatest women’s boxer that ever lived and she is still going. The level of competition and opponents that she has faced and beaten is incomparable to any female boxer in history thus far and in my eyes that is not even debatable…When Katie and Amanda Serrano headlined an all-female sold-out card at Madison Square Garden, that was the greatest measure of how far women’s pro boxing has come. And [those ladies] at the top of the card in the third fight of their epic trilogy, that rates up there with Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, Ali and Frazier, Holyfield and Bowe. That is a the truest reflection of where women’s boxing has ascended to, and it is even a greater reflection as to the caliber of boxers that Katie and Amanda are.”
Tickets for the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame induction dinner are priced at $97.88 per person, including taxes and fees, can be purchased at Eventbrite.com.
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