Taylor holds off Serrano to retain belt in trilogy bout
The fighters brought women's boxing to new heights through their fierce rivalry as a sell-out crowd at the world's most famous arena watched the Irishwoman just edge out her opponent on Friday.
The judges scored the fight 95-95, 97-93 and 97-93.
Their first meeting at Madison Square Garden three years ago was billed as the biggest fight in women's boxing, as they were the first women to headline a fight at the arena.
Taylor triumphed by judges' decisions in their prior two meetings as well, including a controversial clash in November when the referee docked Taylor a point for head butts.
Taylor improved to 25-1 in a fight that perhaps wasn't as exciting as their first two, but once again was almost too close to call.
Taylor again ruled out a fourth meeting with the Puerto Rican, but was cagey when asked whether she would continue to fight.
"I don't know, I just don't want to fight Amanda Serrano again. She punches too hard," she said after the bout.
"I have a huge ton of respect for Amanda, she's such a warrior. It's a pleasure to share a ring with her.
"We have made history three times. We are history makers forever.
"I thought I was boxing very smart, she wasn't able to catch me very much tonight. But it's always close against Amanda."
Serrano (47-4-1) never really hurt Taylor this time, the expected final fight between the two, the way she did a couple times in the previous fights.
She held her hands over her eyes when the first score announced was the even card, perhaps knowing already then she hadn't done enough to pull it out.
Serrano, who has suffered three of her four professional losses to Taylor, said she had tried to work "smarter not harder".
"We tried to stay with the long punches and one twos, and it just wasn't enough," she said.
It was the same festive atmosphere in front of another sold-out crowd split between Irish and Puerto Rican fans, just the way it was when they first fought here on April 30, 2022, in what was the first women's boxing match to headline the arena.
This time, the arena hosted its first all-women's card, many of the fighters saying during the leadup they owed their opportunity to the interest created by the Taylor-Serrano trilogy.
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