‘Tonight was for her' – Boxer on Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 3 pays tribute to tragic Georgia O'Connor after win
The English fighter became unified super bantemweight champion with a stylish decision win over Yamileth Mercado at MSG.
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Ellie Scotney is declared the winner by unanimous decision against Yamileth Mercado
Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
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She paid tribute to Georgia O'Connor after the fight
Credit: PA
And speaking after the fight, Scotney paid tribute to her friend
Georgia
O'Connor.
O'Connor - a talented boxer herself - tragically died from cancer back in May, with Scotney donning a shirt with her likeness during the weigh-in.
She said: "I have had a real testing few months. As everybody knows, I lost my dear friend Georgia so tonight is for her.
"Her dad is over there and I'd like everyone to give her a round of applause.
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"She was 25 years old, she was a fighter, and she lost her battle to cancer but tonight I made sure her name was remembered in Madison Square Garden."
Saturday morning's action was headlined by the eagerly anticipated trilogy bout pitting
Taylor, 39, once again put her undisputed super lightweight belts on the line against her long time rival in the main event of the all-female card.
The Bray woman holds a 2-0 advantage over the 36-year-old having beaten her in MSG in April 2022 and the AT&T Stadium last November.
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The latter has been contested by the Puerto Rican, who has repeatedly complained about supposed head butts which left her bloody.
Meanwhile, Taylor was named unanimous decision victor despite having a point deducted for that very offense,
UK Netflix Users Warned: £1,000 Fine for Watching Live Events Without a TV Licence
The crowd in Texas booed the decision while Serrano remains adamant that she won.
Katie Taylor
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She said: 'I have my own opinion about the stuff that Amanda has been saying on our team, but the fact is I am 2-0 against her.
"Opinions are opinions, but facts are facts and you can't get away from those facts. And yeah, I guess I'm just tired of the complaining and the whining from Amanda's team.
"I'm going into this fight already beating Amanda and I plan to stay beating her. I plan to stay 3-0 come this Friday night.
'I feel like people haven't seen the best me yet and I can't wait to
showcase
that on Friday night.
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"I can definitely make the fight a lot easier for myself and I just can't wait to step in there now and actually perform.
"I know that I can perform and produce the best performance of my career.'
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The Irish Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Katie Taylor aims most brutal dig yet at Chantelle Cameron as she claims ‘I made her more money than she deserves'
KATIE TAYLOR stepped up her trash-talking game after beating Amanda Serrano for the third time - with Chantelle Cameron the victim. Advertisement 2 Katie Taylor once again beat Chantelle Cameron Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 2 She aimed a brutal dig at Chantelle Cameron in the press conference Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile Earlier on the night, Cameron famously beat Taylor in her homecoming bout at the 3Arena before the Bray woman avenged that defeat in November 2023 to However, a trilogy does not appear to be on KT's mind, as she illustrated with her most direct instance of trash-talking to date. In the post-fight press conference, she remarked: "I think Chantelle has to see if she can sell-out a 1,000-seater arena first. Advertisement Read More on Katie Taylor "I don't think she can sell out any stadium at all. "I think I made her more money than she deserves, to be quite honest." Cameron has long since been lobbying for a threequel against the Irishwoman. Back in March, she accused Taylor of "running away scared" after hopes of a trilogy fight between the two fell through. Advertisement Most read in Boxing The 34-year-old told TNT Sport: "It's very frustrating. "A trilogy is meant to be 1-1 and there is only one person who is 1-1 with Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano trilogy punch stats revealed with numbers proving how close epic fight was "It is what it is but, at the end of the day, I have a win over Katie and Katie has a win over me and now she is running scared." It is not a case of who KT will fight next, but if she will fight at all, as the Bray Bomber admitted herself. Advertisement As she has been after every fight in recent times, Taylor was asked if she was going to keep going or retire. And the Bray woman responded: "I don't know". However, she did rule out a fourth clash against her biggest rival, adding: "I just don't want to fight Amanda Serrano again. While their first two bouts were white-knuckle brawls, Taylor largely dictated the threequel at her own pace, with Advertisement That was Taylor landed the same number but from 231 thrown. The Both judges who scored it 97-93 in her favour gave her four of the last five rounds. Advertisement While even the judge that scored it a draw gave her three of the last five rounds as her stamina, intelligence and skill paid dividends. After tasting defeat for the third time, She said: "I tried something different. It was all about working smarter, not harder. "I tried to keep my distance, try not go in there and fight with her because, apparently, it didn't work the first two fights so tried to stick with the low punches, the 1-2s and I guess it wasn't enough. Advertisement "One judge saw it even. I got a couple of rounds. I don't know. I have to go back and see it. My team said I won. "Obviously I am going to go with what my team tells me. They were telling me what to do and I was trying to apply it in the ring."
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Katie Taylor retirement hint as she discusses what's next after trilogy win
Katie Taylor hinted that a fight at Croke Park would be the perfect way to end her career after beating Amanda Serrano for a third time. The Bray Bomber produced one of the best performances of her career as she beat the Puerto Rican by majority decision at Madison Square Garden to retain her super-lightweight world titles. Taylor's amateur skills and pedigree came to the fore in what was arguably her most dominant win over Serrano, despite one one judge scoring the bout a 95-95 draw. The other two had it 97-93 in her favour. There surely aren't many better ways to end a career than by having your hand raised in victory at a sold-out MSG, but Taylor, who turned 39 last week, says she will enjoy the win first before making a decision on retirement. "I'm just going to enjoy this victory right now and sit back, reflect, and then I'll make a decision about that soon," she said after the bout. "But I'm very, very happy with tonight's performance and just the amount of work that we put in over the last few months, myself and Ross [Enamait, coach] , it was a gruelling few months of preparation we did for these kind of fights and I'm so glad I was able to showcase what I could do tonight." Taylor was then asked if she could promise her fans back in Ireland that she would fight again on home soil. "Maybe in Croke Park," the 2012 Olympic gold medallist immediately said in response. "That would be unbelievable. I said it in the ring earlier on, just these people are spending their hard-earned money to go over and support me. It just means the world. Honestly, I can't believe that this is my life. "I'm headlining a show in Madison Square Garden, all-female card. Looking back on the whole journey, what an amazing life. "These are nights that I dreamed of as a kid and to be sitting here again as a winner, I'm so happy, so grateful." Unfortunately, the chances of a Croke Park fight realistically taking place are slim at best. Taylor's promoters Matchroom have explored the idea a number of times in recent years, but the cost of renting the stadium and the security costs that go with it have been massive stumbling blocks. Without some sort of financial help from the Irish government, it seems very unlikely that an event at GAA Headquarters will take place.
The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
A tale of two warriors: The devotion of Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte
LET'S GO BACK to December 2023. We are in the sun room of Mattie Donnelly's home outside Trillick. Himself and Megan are coming to terms with being first-time parents to little Senan which involves the usual rigmarole of no sleep. But when he does go to bed, Donnelly is strapped into a knee brace from his upper thigh to lower shin. It's cumbersome and bulky and desperately uncomfortable looking. Not conducive to a quick cat-nap or even dozing in front of Netflix. He injured his knee playing for Trillick in the Kilmacud Sevens a few months earlier. Afterwards, he went out for dinner with his brother Richie and brother in law, Paul Courtney. Once dinner was over, he went straight back to the hotel. His recovery had already began. For twelve weeks, he slept in that brace. The injury was a rupture of the Posterior Cruciate Ligament. It required no operation. He researched the injury and found Steve Adams in the NBA, a star for the Memphis Grizzlies that had it. Adams treated it with a mixture of rest and rehab, but the knee developed an instability and he had to go for an operation. Two seasons were wiped out. Donnelly had to make sure that didn't happen to him. He couldn't afford it. 'After the first few nights in it, I was thinking, 'there's no way I will do twelve weeks in this,'' he told us. 'For the first twelve weeks I had to sleep in it. 24/7. But you get acclimatised to it. There's not that much discomfort to it. When you are trying to do stuff in the gym with it on it's an inconvenience. 'The brace from the start was at a certain angle and you could do most things within that range of movement. It's down to 90 degrees now and we are about to increase that. 'You do most things within that range. The only thing you are told to avoid is anything hamstring-related. And that's down to the mechanics of the thing. Any time you are pulling on the hamstring, you are pulling on the tibia. Advertisement 'But I can do most things. Even bike and things like that, which keeps me sane in terms of getting a sweat up. We have a gym at the homeplace and a gym at the pitch. So between the two is where we spend most of our time.' ***** 'He's incredibly driven,' says Mark Bradley now of his Red Hands team mate. 'The whole chat at the time was that Mattie might not play again. But the character he is, he is so detailed and you would not have doubted them. 'I don't think any of those men have anything to prove. They have done it for years and continue to do so.' 17 years ago, Bradley was in Hill 16 for the All-Ireland final. Tyrone and Mayo played out a draw in the minor, before Tyrone seniors won their decider against Kerry. A week later, Tyrone became the first Ulster county to nail a senior-minor double in the same year, on a scoreline of 1-20 to 1-15. Kyle Coney was the undoubted star of that game with 0-5. 15,056 were packed into Pearse Park in Longford for the replay, among them was Bradley again. At centre-back was Peter Harte. Lining out in the half-forward line, Mattie Donnelly. Donnelly competing against Paul Galvin in his debut season, 2012. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO 'Mattie' and 'Petey' are still trucking, still doing whatever it takes. In the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Dublin, Harte gave all he could and more before being withdrawn for his brother-in-law, Ruairí Canavan. In the final plays, Donnelly was still going hard. He won a break from a kickout to set up Eoin McElholm for a point and later provided an assist for Ben McDonnell to punch over. 'They were the ones you looked up to, and you still do,' says Bradley. 'You look at the big moments, they continue to step up and lead from the front.' Later this year within three weeks of each other, both will celebrate their 35th birthdays. While the Footballer of the Year last year was won by a 35-year-old Paul Conroy, it takes an insane drive to still play intercounty at this age. 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That is one of the great goals we've seen in Croke Park. Magic, magic Mulligan!' Both players have proved themselves in many facets of the game. There are few that can match Donnelly's power or Harte's inventiveness though. For present selector, Colm McCullagh, he sees similarities with the two veterans and a fellow selector in Chris Lawn, and the example that everyone in Tyrone reaches for when the quality of leadership is mentioned; Brian Dooher. 'You'd have to give those boys serious credit for how they look after themselves in the off seasons – if they get any off seasons. Because those boys are involved in clubs that are going to the later ends of championships and winning championships,' he says. The key to it all though, is that they love football in a way that most mortals could not comprehend. Bradley recalls a Saturday night when Tyrone played Galway a few years back. It wasn't until well past midnight when the bus rolled back into the county. While everyone else was talking about a lazy Sunday ahead, perhaps a round of golf and a dip in the pool, Peter Harte had other plans. He was out first thing in the morning to coach the Errigal Ciarán U8 girls team. ***** Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
