Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano must serve suspensions following third and final fight

Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano must serve mandatory suspensions following their trilogy fight. The Irish boxing legend, triumphant in previous encounters, emerged victorious again via a majority decision after a tactical bout at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Two of the judges scored the bout 97-93 in Taylor's favour, while the contest was too close to call for the third judge, who scored it 95-95 after the 10 rounds. After the fight, Taylor, 39, ruled out a fourth meeting with Serrano as she spoke of her immense respect for the Puerto Rican. Taylor said: "I don't know, I just don't want to fight Amanda Serrano again. She punches too hard. I have a huge ton of respect for Amanda, she's such a warrior. It's a pleasure to share a ring with her. We have made history three times. We are history makers forever."

Taylor added: "I thought I was boxing very smart, she wasn't able to catch me very much tonight. But it's always close against Amanda."

Serrano, now with three defeats at the hands of Taylor out of her four professional losses, lamented not being able to secure victory despite her plan to work "smarter, not harder." The 36-year-old said: "We tried to stay with the long punches and one-twos, and it just wasn't enough."

The pair will now enjoy a period of rest, the initial part of which is enforced under the rules of the New York State Athletic Commission, whose rules the fight fell under. The commission dictates they cannot fight again for at least a week, which naturally wouldn't have occurred anyway. The pair served longer 30-day bans following their previous fight in Dallas, which came under the Texas Department of Licensing and Registration.

The rulebook stipulates: "No licensed professional combative sports participant shall be allowed to participate in any combative sport match or exhibition in this State until at least seven days have elapsed since his or her last match or exhibition.

"And no licensed combative sports participant shall compete in any combative sport match or exhibition within seven days of competing in such a match or exhibition in this State."

Taylor had won a split-decision victory in the Big Apple three years ago before outpointing Serrano again in Texas last year. But after two slugfests, the third fight failed to live up to expectations as it descended into a tactical battle.

A number of rounds could have gone either way as the fight built to a tense climax, Serrano coming forward more and forcing Taylor into a corner in the fifth round, but the champion fought her way out. Taylor was marked under the right eye in the eighth, but edged the final two rounds to secure the verdict.

Elsewhere on the card, Ellie Scotney ended Mexican Yamileth Mercado's six-year reign as WBC super bantamweight world champion with a unanimous verdict. The 27-year-old from Catford added the WBC title to her IBF and WBO crowns with a 100-90, 98-82 and 98-82 decision.

Savannah Marshall was left disappointed as she lost a tight battle for the IBF and WBO super middleweight titles to American Shadasia Green on a split decision. One judge awarded the fight 96-93 to Marshall, who was returning to the ring after a two-year absence, but Green was awarded the verdict 95-94 and 96-93 by the other judges, despite a point deduction for holding.