There was too much unfinished business left for Katie Taylor, despite all that she has done to forever elevate the standards for women in boxing.

The legendary Irishwoman refused to accept the bitter taste of defeat in her long overdue homecoming. The demand was to immediately run it back with unbeaten and undisputed junior welterweight champion Chantelle Cameron, who outpointed Taylor over ten rounds in their May 20 championship clash at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland.

Bray’s Taylor didn’t want to hear about a return to lightweight, where she remains the undisputed champion. Her bid to claim full unification status in two weights and avenge her lone career defeat was as important as providing her fans with a fonder memory than one that ended without her arm raised in victory.

That vision came to fruition in their November 25 rematch at the very same venue, at the highest skill level befitting a pair of undisputed champions and pound-for-pound entrants.

England’s Cameron (18-1, 8KOs) came prepared to once again send Taylor’s fans home disappointed. The defending champ came out red hot and was denied what could have been a knockdown call in the opening round.

It was enough of a reminder to Taylor of what was at stake.

The 2012 Olympic Gold medalist, fully unified lightweight champ and former WBO 140-pound titlist immediately bounced back and landed in rapid fire combination in the second and third rounds.

Cameron punched her way back into the fight in the second half but had already fallen behind on the scorecards. It was the opposite of their first fight, which saw Taylor attempt to play catchup but fail to close the gap.

This time around, her back was against the proverbial wall and she refused to allow the visiting boxer to spoil a night put together in her honor. Terrific two-way action ensued in round seven.

Taylor appeared to slow down the stretch, which Cameron tried in vain to exploit. The 32-year-old Brit, five years Taylor’s junior, was the fresher fighter in the closing rounds but also forced to fight through a free-flowing cut suffered earlier on the night. Taylor fended off fatigue from a furious sprint through eight rounds to ultimately take a majority decision to avenge her first loss suffered since the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Their ten-round championship battle was enough for Taylor to land top honors for the second straight year as BoxingScene.com’s Women’s Fight of the Year.

The runners-up for BoxingScene.com’s 2023 “Women’s Fighter of the Year” award are listed below in chronological order.

Yesica Nery Plata UD10 Kim Clavel (0/13/2023): The 29-year-old Mexico City native embarked on a Fighter of the Year-worthy campaign with the second of a current three-fight road trip. It came in a unification bout versus unbeaten WBC titlist Kim Clavel, whom Nery Plata outpointed over ten furiously paced rounds in Laval, Canada. The cleaner, harder punches landed by the visiting Mexican were rewarded over the locally based Clavel’s workrate, with scores of 96-94, 96-94 and 97-93 all for Nery Plata in what became the year’s first Fight of the Year contender.

Amanda Serrano UD10 Erika Cruz (02/04/2023): Any other year, and Serrano—BoxingScene’s 2023 Women’s Fighter of the Year—repeats in this category. A little more than nine months after her epic April 2022 championship clash versus Taylor in the main room at Madison Square Garden, Serrano sold out MSG’s Hulu Theater in her pursuit of history. The seven-division titlist became Puerto Rico’s first-ever undisputed champion, though Cruz made her work for it over ten blood-soaked rounds. It was a rare fight where Serrano threw fewer punches than her opponent, though both let their hands go at an insane clip—1,917 combined punches thrown over ten, two-minute rounds. Serrano nabbed a ten-round decision to fully unify the featherweight division.

 Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox