Eddie Hearn: “There Was Never A Reduction In Pay For Serrano”

Eddie Hearn Insists Serrano had No Pay Cut

With all the upheaval brought on by COVID-19, one of the most anticipated comeback fights was set to be staged between undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor (15-0, 6 KO’s) and interim WBC/WBO featherweight champion Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano (38-1-1, 28 KO’s).

ONE OBSTACLE AFTER ANOTHER

Sadly, after announcing that she’d received an unacceptable pay cut, Serrano declared that she was pulling out of the prizefight. According to Team Serrano, they have tried to make the Taylor bout a number of times. However, in each instance some insurmountable obstacle has manifested.

“On four occasions, Amanda has signed on for the fight. She signed to fight in late 2019 in New York, but Taylor opted to move up in weight. Then we accepted the fight for early 2020 in the same city, but Taylor’s team thought they needed more time to train and it was moved to May 2 in England.

But then a month and a half later, the COVID-19 pandemic came and it was moved to the fourth of July; all this, accepting a purse not up to par with the magnitude of the fight. But since Amanda wants to make history for Puerto Rico, we happily accepted.

Now they’re offering us the fight for August but removing almost 50% of Amanda’s purse. However, they are taking less from Taylor. We understand there is a situation around the world with COVID-19 and there are changes in the boxing platform, but big fights are big fights.”

~Jordan Maldonado, Amanda Serrano’s manager and trainer

BLOCK IN COMMUNICATION

What remains rather confusing about this whole situation is while the Real Deal and her crew are upset over an alleged pay cut, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn says Serrano was never given a reduction in pay.

According to Hearn, as told to Sky Sports, the only alteration in the contract was the fight date. This is precisely why he believes that the two women should still fight each other next. Furthermore, if team Serrano continues to be difficult, he is prepared to go to court over the matter.

“I hope so. It’s the absolute plan to do Taylor-Serrano here and both fighters have signed binding legal contracts to take part in that fight. You know there’s some talk about there is a reduction in the offering a purse; never a reduction in any offering to Lou DiBella for a change in Serrano’s purse! She was written to, to give her the new date under the full terms of the contract that she signed and that is the contract that we will enforce and expect her to honor as well.

So we have given her warm up fights, we’ve given her vacant world title fights to make sure that she fights Katie Taylor. So come on, let’s do as you promised and let’s give the world what they want. We’ve also reached out to Delphine Persoon for that fight as well. It’d be an even better replacement if we could make that fight as well. So Katie Taylor will be in a big fight here and she is ready for all those defining moments.”

~Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Boxing

Given the radically different story versions being presented here it will be very revealing to see how this whole situation ultimately resolves itself. Stay tuned to 3kingsboxing.com for all the latest boxing news and updates.

By: Bakari Simpson

Featured Article: Amanda Serrano On Katie Taylor Negotiations: “I Was Offered A Pay Cut!”