CLARESSA Shields has backed Katie Taylor to make it 3-0 against Amanda Serrano, citing the Puerto Rican’s stubbornness as her kryptonite.
The Bray Bomber took their second scrap in November with all three judges scoring it 95-94 in her favour.
The rivals will throw down for a third time on July 11[/caption]
Shields and Serrano are two of only three female boxers to have won world titles across five divisions[/caption]
Despite having been victorious on both occasions they’ve duked it out, the close nature of each contest has prompted a third fight on July 11.
It will be held at Madison Square Garden just like their first epic encounter in 2022.
And Shields reckons a similar result will unfold before the massive global audience that tunes in to watch it on Netflix.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist told Fight Hub TV: “I think that Katie will win again. And listen, I don’t have a dog in the fight.
“I mean, Amanda has some underlying issues with me, and saying that I downplay her career. Whatever the f*** she’s talking about.
“So I don’t know what that’s about. What I will say is, from my knowledge, Katie Taylor is the better fighter.
“And Amanda can beat her! Amanda can beat her. But she won’t. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
“And Amanda — I’m not calling her old, because I don’t know how old she is. I just know she’s older than me — she’s stuck in her ways.
“And I think that not only is she stuck in her ways, but her coaches are stuck in their ways too.
“You have to look at what the judges saw, and think, ‘Okay, even though we feel like we won, we need to fix X, Y, and Z.’ But I don’t think that she’s mentally capable of doing that.”
Since turning pro in November 2016, the same month as Taylor did, Shields has gone on to establish herself as an equally dominant presence.
The 30-year-old has compiled a record of 16-0 with her last boxing bout coming in February when she cruised to a decision against Danielle Perkins.
She has fought since then, however, as she won her professional MMA debut a mere two weeks later against Kelsey DeSantis at a PFL vs Bellator event.
Last month though she announced her retirement from Mixed Martial Arts as she intends to go back to putting her full focus on the sweet science of boxing.
She mostly fights at light middleweight (154lbs) so between her size and age advantage, it’s unlikely she’ll ever be matched up against the Wicklow wonder.
The most recent news around Taylor’s looming fight card came over the weekend when a fighter on the undercard withdrew due to her becoming pregnant.
Dina Thorslund withdraw from her title unification bout against IBF bantamweight holder Shurretta Metcalf as the unified bantamweight champ revealed that she is expecting her second child.
She has relinquished her WBO title. Upon her return to the ring Thorslund may request to be designated mandatory challenger.
