Katie Taylor believes her fight with Amanda Serrano is the most exciting in the sport, regardless of gender.
The pair will become the first females to headline a boxing card at the 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden main arena, when they go toe-to-toe on April 30.
They came face-to-face for the first time on Wednesday, as they began the big pitch for the hearts, minds and wallets of boxing fans across the globe.
Their Matchroom/MVP-promoted card comes on the same night that Bob Arum's Top Rank run Las Vegas, headlined by Shakur Stevenson meeting Oscar Valdez.
But for Taylor, there's no contest between the two.
"I think this fight genuinely is the most exciting fight in the sport. Not just in female boxing, but boxing as a whole," she told a New York press conference.
"Not just because of our records, but I believe that our styles will gel well together. It's going to produce a fantastic fight for the fans.
"This really is the best fight in boxing right now.
"And it's not about female boxing, or male boxing, this is just boxing. This is top-class boxing, so this is exactly why we're here."
The struggle was real
According to Serrano's manager, Jake Paul, both fighters will pocket at least seven-figure sums for the fight.
It's reported that Taylor will take the guts of that, with $2million, and Serrano $1million.
Serrano may be a seven-weight world champion, but she can scarcely believe the level at which she's now operating, "Thirteen years I've been a professional. Every other day I wanted to quit - the struggle was real. I never had an easy way out of it, in the game.
WE CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS ONE 🔥#TaylorSerrano@jakepaul | @MostVpromotions pic.twitter.com/q71TfAqC7j
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) February 2, 2022
"Never did I imagine making the money I'm making today, and headlining Madison Square Garden! Are you serious?!
"It wasn't, not even, a thought. And look - we're changing the game.
"Now, younger girls in the sport can be like 'I want to be just like those girls, I want to headline the Garden', now there's hope for them - we never had that hope. I'm excited to open those doors."
Eyeballs stay
Also present on Wednesday was DAZN executive vice-president Joe Markowski, who spoke enthusiastically about the growth of women's sport.
He wants the Taylor-Serrano fight to be a "moment in time" and a celebration.
"A lot of nose gets made about this being a historic women's boxing event," Markowski said.
"For us, this just makes great business sense. It's a huge opportunity, I think, for the sport and women's sport more broadly to stop and acknowledge and celebrate the progress that's being made in women's sport.
"Yourself [Eddie Hearn], and Matchroom have been long-time supporters of that.
"Jake [Paul], everything that you and Nakisa [Bidaria - MVP co-founder] are doing to back this, is going to bring long-overdue eyeballs.
"We know from our broader global business outside of boxing that when the media, and industries around sport - the media, the brands, the celebrities, everyone who touches sport - gets behind women's sport, eyeballs come. And when eyeballs come, they stay."
Both fighters spoke of their respect for one another, and smack talk will be thin on the ground between now and April 30.
But Taylor could not help from injecting the slightest bit of needle into the press conference.
"We're both great champions, and she has a great record - there's no doubt about it - she's a great fighter," said the Bray boxer.
"We're both going to be stepping in the ring on fight night, believing we're both going to come out victorious.
"But I do believe when you look down her list of opponents, you'll see recognisable names from my resumé.
"You'll see the likes of [Jessica] McCaskill, the likes of Persoon, the likes of [Natasha] Jonas among others. You'll also see top class amateur boxers as well.
"So I have been tested, I have been refined in the fire, and I believe that will stand to me in a fight this competitive.
"We're both going to go in in the best shape possible and may the best fighter win."
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