The biggest rematch in women’s boxing history takes place less than two weeks from now.
Mike Tyson has revealed his admiration for Irish boxer Katie Taylor and delivered some words of wisdom for the Bray boxer.
The former undisputed heavyweight world champion is on the same card as Taylor later this month.
Both fighters will enter the ring at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on 15 November, with Tyson coming out of retirement to take on social media star Jake Paul, while Taylor gets back into the ring against a woman she defeated via split-decision in an all-time classic bout back in 2022.
Both Taylor and Puerto Rican Amanda Serrano made history by becoming the first women to headline a boxing event at Madison Square Garden two and a half years ago and, if the first showdown was anything to go by, it has the potential of overshadowing the main event between Tyson and Paul.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Tyson revealed that he hadn’t heard of Taylor until her historic fight in New York City.
“I was never aware of Katie until I saw her fight Serrano. She’s a very good fighter, a very slick boxer, she has good movement,” said the 58-year-old.
“I can see her side movement, that’s how she has to fight because Serrano comes straight forward, she doesn’t cut off but when she comes straight forward, Katie has to go to the side, which she was doing earlier (in the first fight) and she has to be in the condition to handle the pressure of her continuing to come forward, but she has good side movement and she’s a good puncher.
“She’s a very entertaining boxer,” Tyson added. “She does the right thing, but she’s got to continue to do it consistently.”
Surprisingly, Taylor isn’t the first Irish woman to fight on a Mike Tyson card.
Drogehda’s Deirdre Gogarty owns that honour, having famously fought Christy Martin on the undercard of Tyson’s 1996 rematch win over Frank Bruno at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Martin won via unanimous decision after Gogarty got up off the canvas twice in the first round.
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Reflecting on the fight over 28 years later, Tyson said: “I remember they were on the card, but this is different. Katie is a whole other level, she’s a whole different animal.
“I’m always for women fighters, I’m 100% for women fighters. Some of them are more exciting than the men.”
Taylor vs. Serrano 2 will be the co-main event of Paul vs. Tyson. The fight takes place on Friday, November 15th at 8pm ET | 5pm PT, and will be streamed live on Netflix.
