Less Iconic – Taylor- Serrano would lose Undisputed status if it was changed to 12 threes

If Katie Taylor [20(6)-0] versus Amanda Serrano was to be changed to a 12 round fight the WBC title would not be on the line and the historic meeting would no longer be an Undisputed world title fight.

Speaking at the second of two press conferences to officially announce the fight, Serrano suggested the fight should be upgraded from 10 two-minute rounds to 12 stanzas played over three minutes.

The New York based Puerto Rican declared she wanted to take ‘a stand’, ‘pave’ the way for change and make the fight even more ‘icon’.

“I’m a woman for equality and we all talk about equality, on this table multiple times, we’re making history at the Garden being the first women to headline. We’re making the biggest payday for both of us, and I think we should just continue to make this iconic, make changes to this game and if Katie Taylor is willing and ready and able to make this an equal fight of 12 rounds of 3 minutes,” she said.

Taylor argued the fight was icon enough, while Irish-boxing.com suggested victory and not history was behind the unpromoted call.

It seemed obvious that all parties involved knew it was a nonstarter.

The number of rounds was agreed upon and put in a contract that has been signed by both parties – and while there is scope to change a terms if both teams agreed that’s was going to happen at the late stage. Not to mention a press conference was not the place to start negotiating those changes.

More importantly, it was said upgrading to 12 rounds would threaten the fight’s status as an Undisputed match, thus detracting from the ‘iconic’ element.

The WBC have always been particularly strong on 10×2’s for their female fights and have been very vocal about not sanctioning any 12×3 bouts. Indeed, they are not big on 3-minute rounds for females as a whole, any change would more than likely see them withdraw their title.

Speaking to Sean McGoldrick for the Independent Malte Mueller-Michaelis, WBC women’s championship chairman suggested that would be the case.

“The WBC is very clear and stands firmly with the decision only to support, approve and sanction women’s fights over ten rounds with a length of two minutes per round.

“This has been our position since we started sanctioning women’s championships in 2005 and we are not willing to change it.

“The top priority of the WBC has always been and will always be the health, safety and wellbeing of the boxers. The only reason the WBC exists is because of the boxers and to be a service for the boxers.”

She also pointed out that concussion is far more likely in the women’s version

“I honestly don’t see any good reason for change,” she said,

She added that a debate with Taylor’s opponent Amanda Serrano and others who promote a different position could be had in the future.

“Whenever I am asked why we are not changing our rules, I tend to reply by asking, why should we? Some people argue that women will not get paid the same or get the same attention as men as long as they are fighting over a shorter distance. To me, this is just a wrong assumption.

“Of course, we believe in equality and we fight for equal pay for women in boxing. But there is no reason for them to take a bigger risk to get what they deserve.”