ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano was just as bloody and gory as the original.

The contested decision – and the response to it – was also much the same.

Taylor retained her unanimous super lightweight championship with a razor-thin unanimous decision over Serrano on Friday night in a slugfest that was remarkably similar to their epic fight in New York two years ago.

Taylor was scored the winner 95-94 by all three judges, drawing boos from the crowd at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys before the game. co-main event of Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.

Taylor, the 38-year-old from Ireland, remained the undisputed super lightweight champion. It was the third win since the first professional defeat for Taylor (24-1, six knockouts).

Serrano, who kept hitting despite suffering a nasty cut to her right eye in the sixth round, was the crowd favorite in much the same way she was during the controversial split-decision at Madison Square Garden in 2022.

The cut appeared to be from a headbutt from Taylor, who received a point for a headbutt in the sixth round. Serrano said her first ever cut was a headbutt from Taylor during the first encounter, and she accused Taylor of doing it on purpose.

“I think 100% because she does it in every fight,” Serrano said, who shrunk to himself when she finally got a chance to see the cut after the fight. “It is what it is. I am a champion, no matter what.”

Asked about a third meeting, Serrano was interrupted by her trainer, Jordan Maldonado, who made more accusations about headbutting.

“If headbutts are not part of it and we get an honest referee, someone who knows what he is doing and is going to do what he has to do,” Maldonado said. “It was a lot of headbutting. Amanda Serrano has 50 fights. The first time she was cut, the first fight was with Katie Taylor.

With her eyes, cheeks and lips swollen at the post-fight press conference, Taylor shrugged off the accusations of a headbutt.

“I really don’t care what is said about the fight,” said the 2012 Olympic champion. “I’m 2-0 against Serrano.”

In a post on X after the fight, Serrano showed off the stats that gave her a 324-217 edge in punches landed.

“I landed 107 more punches, she was deducted a point and I lost 95-94,” Serrano wrote, adding the abbreviation of a crude sentence.

At the sold-out brawl two years ago, they became the first women to headline a martial arts event at the legendary New York venue. The 36-year-old Serrano, a seven-division champion, is 47-3-1 with 31 knockouts.

It may have started off a little slower than the New York meet, but things changed when Serrano, who is from Puerto Rico but lives in New York, suffered the nasty cut.

The injury forced the referee to call a timeout midway through the sixth round, and frequent close-ups throughout the rest of the fight left the audience gasping during the streaming platform Netflix’s first combat sports broadcast.

“Every time you get a cut, it hurts,” Serrano said. ‘You have blood in your eye. It hurts.”

However, Serrano never stopped punching, and Taylor seemed to be faltering in the final seconds of the fight. Taylor repeatedly leaned against Serrano and seemed to have trouble holding herself together. She had already been deducted a point for a headbutt in the eighth round.

Taylor fought for the first time since avenging her only professional loss by defeating Chantelle Cameron for the undisputed super lightweight title in a rematch in her home country a year ago.

The Taylor-Serrano fight in New York was more of a celebration of women’s boxing, despite questions about the outcome. Serrano was a little more frustrated this time by the questions about headbutts.

The Tyson vs. Paul fight didn’t come close to the action of the final warm-up act in the first live sporting event for the streaming platform Netflix, which had problems with the feed due to the large amount of traffic.

“I have my opinion about the fight,” said Eddie Hearn, Taylor’s promoter. “Then it’s done. It’s just my opinion. We witnessed an incredible event with millions of eyes watching.”

Serrano ran into trouble after the sixth round, with the ring doctor asking if she could continue while the wound was treated. She said yes, and didn’t show many signs of slowing down.

The pair traded flurries of punches most of the time, especially in the final round, knowing the decision would be close.

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The story corrects an earlier version in which Amanda Serrano had a cut on her right eye, not her left.

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