Could Three-Minute Rounds Help Katie Taylor Finally Get Her Croke Park Farewell?
One of the biggest controversies in the build-up to Katie Taylor’s trilogy fight with Amanda Serrano was the length of rounds. The Puerto Rican felt she had agreed with Taylor that the bout would be fought over three-minute rounds, only for the Irish star to change her mind at the last minute. Seven months on from that fiery press conference, where Serrano accused Taylor of “backing out” before the pair went toe to toe at Madison Square Garden, the debate has resurfaced.
Serrano will get her wish when she faces Erika Cruz Hernandez in San Juan on January 4th, with the fight officially set for three-minute rounds.
Odds Favour Serrano
It is a contest Serrano is heavily expected to win, and the latest boxing betting online in the UK reflects that confidence.
The 37-year-old is priced at 1/18 to beat her opponent, while Cruz Hernandez is out at 17/2, meaning a €10 bet, according to this bet calculator, would return €95 including stake if the Mexican won. Beyond the discrepancy in odds, the real intrigue lies in whether the longer format can draw a wider audience and reignite discussion around equality in women’s boxing.
A Divisive Rule Change
The case for three-minute rounds has split opinion across the sport. Supporters, including Serrano, believe the extra minute could bring more knockouts, more drama, and greater parity with the men’s game.
Two months away!
— Amanda Serrano (@Serranosisters) November 3, 2025
January 3rd it’s Battle time.
Going back to my Natural Weight 126lbs Fighting 3 Minute rds
I’m feeling super strong pic.twitter.com/RwALch3a3n
Critics argue that the two-minute format has helped create a faster, more technical style unique to women’s boxing, and that any move toward longer rounds should come only with improved pay and medical safeguards. Put plainly, advocates for two-minute rounds feel it brings out the best in women’s boxing as a spectacle.
Taylor, now 39, has long urged balance in the debate. While she supports equal recognition, she has questioned whether longer rounds genuinely enhance the product. After Serrano’s 2023 experiment with Danila Ramos, a 12-round, three-minute contest that produced no stoppages, Taylor labelled it “boring” and “not a good advertisement” for change.
The Croke Park Dream
For Taylor, the issue now carries a more personal dimension. Having completed her trilogy with Serrano in July, she remains hopeful of one final fight, ideally at Dublin’s Croke Park. “It would be the icing on the cake,” she told Matchroom’s Flash Knockdown podcast. Promoter Eddie Hearn has said it would take a “big fight” to make the venue viable, possibly a third meeting with Chantelle Cameron or another high-profile challenger.
That possibility took on fresh meaning in late October when Cameron gave up her WBC light-welterweight title to protest against the shorter round format in women’s boxing. The 34-year-old said she wanted “the choice to fight equal rounds, equal opportunities, and equal respect,” adding that women’s boxing still had “progress to be made.”
Her stand isn’t isolated either. It follows Serrano’s own demand for 12 three-minute rounds and shows that pressure for reform is coming from the sport’s biggest names.
Repetition is the mother of learning #TaylorSerrano3 pic.twitter.com/MhAvpyVfy0
— Katie Taylor (@KatieTaylor) May 7, 2025
More Than Minutes
Ultimately, the question of round length goes beyond the stopwatch and structure. It speaks to a sport still defining its identity and striving for balance between equality and safety. Taylor’s career has already broken those boundaries. Should her farewell finally come under the lights of Croke Park, it will be remembered not for how long each round lasted but for how completely she changed the face of women’s boxing.
