NETFLIX have taken heed of the many complaints around its commentary team for Katie Taylor’s last fight with Amanda Serrano.
Bizarrely, actor Rosie Perez was alongside ring legend Roy Jones Jr. as co-commentator on account of her simply being a boxing fan and of Puerto Rican heritage like Serrano.
Taylor-Serrano III will unfold around 4am Irish time on Saturday morning[/caption]
Serrano, 36, is three years younger than Taylor[/caption]
Perez is most famous for her role in basketball film ‘White Men Can’t Jump’[/caption]
Upon Taylor’s unanimous victory being announced, Perez claimed it would “be an asterisk on her record” in a blatantly biased assessment of what was a close fight.
To her credit, she did admit her regret over that comment in the days afterwards.
The 60-year-old reflected: “There was one moment that I did regret in the Taylor/Serrano fight, because it came out wrong.
“If anybody jumped on me for that, that’s fair, and that’s when I said Katie Taylor will have an asterisk on her name because of these fights.
“What I wanted to say was it was unfortunate that people will think about Katie Taylor with an asterisk on her name because of the head-butting and the rubbing.
“That I regret because I have such great respect for Katie Taylor as a fighter and I think I was just caught up in the emotion of the moment.
“I would correct myself on that. I would think twice about saying stuff and how to say it to make sure that I am clear and it cannot be misconstrued because I’m sure it was.
“That just haunts me. That statement just haunts me.”
On the flip side to Perez and primary commentator Mauro Ranallo, Roy Jones Jr backed Taylor as the correct winner.
Confirmation has now come that neither Perez nor any other showbiz figure will be part of the broadcast team this time around when Taylor and Serrano engage in round three of their rivalry.
The line-up in full is as follows:
- Host: Kate Scott
- Analysts: Andre Ward, Laila Ali
- Ringside commentary: Sean Grande, Seniesa Estrada, Laila Ali
- Ringside interviews: Ariel Helwani, Sibley Scoles
- In-ring announcer: Kody ‘Big Mo’ Mommaerts
- Rules and scoring: Sean Wheelock
It’s worth noting that Laila Ali is the daughter of all-time boxing great Muhammad and a former champion boxer in her own right.
She and The Bray Bomer memorably shared a warm embrace after the first occasion she defeated Serrano which was also held at Madison Square Garden.
KT believes she gave one of her greatest ever performances last November when she defeated Serrano for a second time.
The 2012 Olympic gold medallist — who fought her first fight as an amateur in 2001 — said: “It was definitely one of my best performances.
“I love the way I was able to push her back and outfight her. I think I outboxed her in the first fight. I actually outfought her in the second.”
She added: “I recently looked back at that fight and if you turn the commentary off, it’s actually a very, very clear win for me.
“There was no controversy whatsoever. The commentary made it controversial but I was very happy with that performance.
“But there’s still more I can do as well, which is very positive for me. It was a great performance but I feel like I still haven’t shown my best. That’s very, very exciting for me.”
