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Katie Taylor Amanda Serrano bout in doubt suggests ‘Real Deal’s’ manager

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Amanda Serrano’s manager and coach Jordan Maldonado suggests stumbling blocks with regard to a mega fight with Katie Taylor [15(6)-0] have reemerged.

The pair had agreed to fight in April with a destination for the fight still to be decided.

Indeed, Serrano [38(28)-1(0)-0] spoke extremely positive with regard to a fight in either London or New York after her stoppage win over Simone Aparecida Da Silva in January.

Eddie Hearn suggested as recent as last week that the fight would be confirmed for May 2 and the undercard of Dillian Whyte versus Alexander Povetkin.

The outspoken coach claims the moving of the bout from April to May causes issues. In fact he suggest it may mean the contract will have to be renegotiated.

“They made us an offer and we accepted it, but the contract stipulates that the fight would be in April. Now the rumors are that I wouldn’t go until May,” said Maldonado before suggesting the Puerto Rican has mandatory obligations that will have to be deffered.

“Amanda has a world title defense from the World Boxing Organization (WBO) that she won last September. We have 180 days to defend and if Taylor’s fight is late for May, we would be in danger of not complying, ”he added.

The man, who cornered Serrano’s sister Cindy when she was well beaten by the undisputed lightweight champion in October of 2018, says the seven weight world champion is excited by the Taylor challenge, but has goals at super bantamweight.

“The challenge is to go up to 135 pounds, but we want to stay at 126 pounds to unify. That is the natural weight of Amanda. Right now there is no certainty that it will be done in April,” he explains before indicating a belief Matchroom feel they can dictate terms.

“Amanda fights where and when they want. Maybe in May, but we have to negotiate that because the WBO gave us a fight with Simone da Silva out of title, ”Maldonado said.

“According to them, Taylor is the superstar. It doesn’t matter if it’s in New York, Africa, Mars or Jupiter, we’re going to fight, ”he added.

Maldonado remains optimistic, but is adamant the fight will have to be renegotiated.

“We were ready for April, but they sent a message that for that month it is not going. Now it will be waiting for Taylor’s promoters to re-negotiate because the contract is no longer useful. If the fight is in the United Kingdom, the purse has to be bigger than the one offered in New York, although they said the money could be renegotiated. In that we are, ” affirmed the coach.

It has to be noted team Serrano have continually looked for ways to increase the fight purse and this could be another tactic to bump up the purse.

In truth if they were expecting the bout to play out in April, May 2 shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Hearn was hoping to announce the massive fight and the card on Friday, but no official conformation came – and it could be team Serrano’s new stance may have caused the delay.

dpg

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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