Amanda Serrano Defeats Miriam Gutierrez To Set Up Potential Fight Against Katie Taylor

Amanda Serrano is one step closer to the fight she’s been waiting for…

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler easily bested Miriam Gutierrez on Saturday night inside Amalie Arena, setting up what she hopes will be a potential massive fight against undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor.

Amanda SerranoIt’s a fight that has been discussed several times before but now appears ever so close to becoming a reality in 2022.

“It is the megafight for women’s boxing,” Serrano said. “You have pound-for-pound Top 3, however you look at it.”

While the fight date hasn’t been officially set yet, potential million-dollar purses and a venue of Madison Square Garden have been discussed by both Serrano’s team and Taylor’s.

Before she could think about it, though, she had to beat one more opponent to close out her 2021. In a 100-90, 99-91, 99-90 unanimous decision win over Gutierrez at lightweight, Serrano made it clear she’s one of the best fighters in the world. And by moving up to lightweight for this fight — and fighting as she did — she knows what she wants next.

Serrano moved up in weight for the fight, hiring a nutritionist for the first time and continually enjoying chocolate milkshakes — while enduring eating carrots, among her least favorite foods — to prep. She also sparred with fighters who weighed far more than the 135 pounds she was fighting at — 150-and 160-pounders — in an attempt to prepare for Gutierrez.

After the fight, Gutierrez told Serrano she weighed 160 pounds on Saturday. Serrano, meanwhile, weighed 133 pounds.

The prep work against heavier fighters showed from the opening bell. Serrano landed 46% of her power punches and 236 total punches to 129 for Gutierrez. Almost every round seemed similar to the first, in which Serrano consistently pummeled Gutierrez’s head and body, putting her in the corner and against the ropes several times and looking like she was going to send Gutierrez to the canvas.

Gutierrez held on. Barely. Serrano landed 37 of 86 punches in the first round, a massive 43%, according to Showtime stats, while Gutierrez landed only eight.

“The strategy was to just go out there and just beat her,” Serrano said. “Beat her every single round and dominate her. Just box and show that I’m an all-around fighter. That I could do whatever I want in. I can brawl with her. I can box with her. Body shots, head shots.

“I wanted to be a complete fighter. The knockout, if it came, it came. But I just wanted to make sure that I beat her.”

The next two rounds showed Serrano’s more clinical side. Her pacing was a little slower, but she still went at Gutierrez consistently. Gutierrez rarely seemed to take a step forward throughout the first half of the fight.

Serrano again got Gutierrez against the ropes for the final minute of the fourth round, continually landing shots. Through four rounds, Serrano outlanded Gutierrez in power punches 83-49. She was more active, more powerful and more accurate. Through six rounds, Serrano, from Brooklyn, New York, outlanded Gutierrez 119-69 in total.

“She punches so hard,” Gutierrez said. “And she is consistent.”

It was a master class missing just one thing: the knockout. She bloodied Gutierrez’s nose in the seventh. Sensing opportunity, she continually pounded Gutierrez’s face throughout the seventh round, a constant barrage Gutierrez, from Madrid, seemed fortunate to survive.

Gutierrez appeared to have her best round in the eighth, but even punches that were landing didn’t seem to matter. Serrano would take one punch on her way to landing two on Gutierrez.

The last round was more of the same for Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KO). She backed Gutierrez (14-2, 5 KO) onto the ropes and then landed multiple shots before Gutierrez was able to escape. To Gutierrez’s credit, she held on well despite taking a ton of punishment, including two swollen eyes and a bloody nose.

Meanwhile, Serrano looked like she just had a long run on the treadmill. And now, she could end up with what she’s hoping for next — the biggest fight of her career. And one Serrano’s co-promoter, Jake Paul, believes can carry a card on its own after her fighting as the co-feature on his past two cards.

“That’s its own main event,” Paul said after his knockout victory over Tyron Woodley in Saturday night’s main event. “For sure. And I’m so excited. I’m going to do everything in my power to make that fight the biggest female boxing fight in the history of the sport.”

Prince Royce to Serve as Special Guest on Ariana Grande’s “The Honeymoon Tour”

Prince Royce has landed a grande gig…

The 25-year-old Dominican-America singer-songwriter will appear as the special guest on Ariana Grande’s recently extended The Honeymoon Tour beginning this summer.

Prince Royce

Grande’s tour, produced and promoted by Live Nation, kicked off February 25 and will play through April 16 in Vancouver.

The summer tour dates, featuring Prince Royce, will kick off July 16 at Amalie Arena in Tampa and will end October 15 at El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas. Stops include Staples Center in Los Angeles, BB&T Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Verizon Cetner in Washington DC and American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Prince Royce is close to releasing his English-language debut album after becoming one of the most successful new Latin acts in the market. Royce broke the top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his first English-language single, “Stuck on a Feeling,” featuring Snoop Dogg.

Tickets will go on sale April 4 at www.livenation.com; all dates, cities and venues below subject to change.

Thursday, July 16 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
Saturday, July 18 Ft Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center
Tuesday, July 21 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena
Thursday, July 23 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
Saturday, July 25 Washington, DC Verizon Center
Sunday, July 26 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
Wednesday, July 29 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Friday, July 31 Albany, NY Times Union Center
Sunday, August 2 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Tuesday, August 4 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena
Thursday, August 6 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
Friday, August 7 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
Sunday, August 9 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
Saturday, August 29 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Center
Monday, August 31 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
Wednesday, September 2 Boise, ID Taco Bell Arena
Friday, September 4 Portland, OR Moda Center
Sunday, September 6 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Arena
Tuesday, September 8 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
Wednesday, September 9 Chula Vista, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
Friday, September 11 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Friday, September 18 Houston, TX Toyota Center
Sunday, September 20 Birmingham, AL BJCC Arena
Tuesday, September 22 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
Thursday, September 24 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena
Saturday, September 26 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
Tuesday, September 29 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
Friday, October 2 Chicago, IL United Center
Sunday, October 4 St Louis, MO Scottrade Center
Tuesday, October 6 Wichita, KS INTRUST Bank Arena
Wednesday, October 7 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
Friday, October 9 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
Sunday, October 11 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Tuesday, October 13 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Thursday, October 15 El Paso, TX El Paso County Coliseum